■ ■ 







■ 



■ 






«F'-l« 



|u memotiam. 






ft 



« 



v - ■ ■ : 



%HB 



&;-^i4#v~ 



Dr. ALDEN MARCH, 



'■a 



■■■■*■'■'♦■■ 

i s$a& MS©? 

■. -..■■.'■..■•■ ., 



rW, 



m± 



■ 



lrafV4uft 






Btiti 



■SxraftftP 






r#M 



■JllffYTT* 



J^eKJSt 



\na 








m 




m 


Wm 








'■''-' w. 




m 








iff 




' 












e^L- 



TRIBUTE 



TO THE MEMORY OF 



ALDEN MARCH, ED., LLD. 



/> 







ALBANY: 

PRINTING HOUSE OF CHARLES VAN BENTHUYSEN & SONS. 

I 870. 






l 






" AND I HEARD A VOICE FROM HEAVEN SAYING UNTO ME, WRITE, 
BLESSED ARE THE DEAD WHICH DIE IN THE LORD FROM HENCE- 
FORTH: YEA, SAITH THE SPIRIT, THAT THEY MAY REST FROM 

I 
THEIR LABOURS; AND THEIR WORKS DO FOLLOW THEM:' 

Rev. xiv. 13. 



Funeral Address. 



By WILLIAM B. SPRAGUE, D.D. 

We are accustomed to speak of the silence of Death; 
and yet Death is one of the most eloquent of all 
God's ministers. His deliverances have respect to 
the past, the present and the future. He puts us 
into communion with scenes gone by, and gathers 
from them an argument for humility and gratitude 
and fresh consecration to our appointed work. He 
admonishes us of the brevity of life, of the importance 
of each passing hour, of the rapidity with which 
we are moving onward. And, standing forth in the 
light of God's revealed truth, he assures us that his 
victories in respect to the Christian are all nothing 
but the precursor of an exceeding and eternal weight 
of glory. Death's utterances, then, are to be reve- 
rently listened to and heeded always ; and when they 
come hand in hand with our ever blessed Christianity, 
well may they be accepted with gratitude and praise. 
There is a diversity in the lives and characters 
and deaths of good men, which we must not overlook 
if we will learn all the lessons which the}'- teach from 



6 



their coffins. The Providence of God orders their 
lot respectively with reference to the accomplishment 
of different ends. The Grace of God performs its 
sanctifying work in unequal degrees and through 
various instrumentalities. And Death, in moving 
about as God's agent, approaches sometimes by one 
path, and sometimes by another; and though he 
always accomplishes substantially the same object in 
respect to both body and soul, yet the particular 
lessons he teaches are modified by the circumstances 
in which he performs his office. But, instead of fol- 
lowing out these several thoughts in their application 
to our lamented friend, I design to show what he was 
in the days of his vigorous and mature usefulness, and 
what we believe he now is as a minister around the 
throne, and to trace the process by which his high 
' character and destiny have been attained. 

As I must pass rapidly over this ground, much, of 
course, must be left unsaid, which the tender associa- 
tions of the hour, as well as our own appreciation of 
the admirable qualities of the departed, would natu- 
rally suggest. 

In speaking of our friend as we have known him 
in the past, it is natural that we should view him first 
in his domestic relations, — as the life and joy of a 
happy home. Within that sacred enclosure his heart 
always seemed full of blessing ; the result of which 
was that he drew all the members of his household 
around him by a cord of unwonted reverence and 



tenderness. I understand, that he was a model both 
in the conjugal and parental relations; that his 
presence in his own endeared circle Avas always 
welcomed as a benediction; that his discipline, dic- 
tated by kindness, and guided by calm discretion, 
seemed only as the legitimate working of the law of 
love. His perfect regularity in all his domestic habits 
generated an atmosphere around him eminently favour- 
able to the growth of intelligence and virtue. And, 
to crown all, he had in his house an altar consecrated 
to family worship; and nothing of a mere worldly 
nature could ever prevent him from engaging in that 
service at the appointed time ; and his prayers, as I 
am assured by a most competent witness, while they 
were distinguished for an impressive fervour, were 
marked also by a singular adaptation to surrounding 
circumstances. I believe it is the opinion of those 
who were most familiar with the routine of his daily 
life, that his character shone nowhere more brightly 
than amidst the quiet, devout and loving demonstra- 
tions of his own fireside. 

And if we follow him from his own dwelling into 
the wider circle of friends and acquaintances, we find the 
same qualities that adorned his character at home 
still conspicuous. He was genial, affable, courteous 
in his intercourse, a model of propriety and dignity 
always; and wherever he moved or wherever he 
paused, he was recognized as an attraction. He never 
lost any one's respect by what seemed a sacrifice of 



8 



principle in accommodation to circumstances — on 
the contrary, he adhered with great firmness to his 
own well-matured convictions, no matter what might 
be the measure of inconvenience or self-denial it 
involved. All who knew him revered him; while 
those who knew him best, loved and honoured him 
most. 

In his professional character and relations it may safely 
be said that Dr. March attained very high distinction. 
From the time of his settlement in this city, in 1820, 
he devoted himself with singular zeal to the duties 
of his profession, and very soon acquired a distin- 
guished reputation in the department of Surgery; 
and here he achieved, through life, his greatest pro- 
fessional triumphs. The witnesses to his surgical 
skill are scattered all over the land; and the fame 
of it has found its way across the ocean. His 
attentions to his medical patients were always most 
exemplary, and his large heart never declined a call 
because it came from the abode of poverty. Of the 
Albany Medical College and the Albany City Hospi- 
tal he was the projector, and one of the most vigorous 
early supporters; and his zeal for sustaining and 
advancing the interests of both these institutions 
never faltered to the last. With his brethren of the 
medical profession he was on terms of unreserved inti- 
macy, — ever ready to communicate his own thoughts 
or discoveries, and equally ready to heed and profit 
by their suggestions. The testimony which they 



9 



have already rendered and which is confirmed by 
their large and reverent attendance here to-day, 
shows how deeply they feel the inroad which Death 
has niade upon their number. And I may add that 
various other societies to which he sustained a more 
or less intimate relation, and one meeting in which 
there was a representation of our citizens at large, 
have recorded their estimate of his character in 
language that could be applied to but few of his 
cotemporaries. 

I must say a word in regard to the place which 
our departed friend held in the Church, and as the . 
sustainer of all Christian institutions. He came into 
the Church, as one of its communicants, more than 
twenty-five years ago, under the ministry of the 
late Dr. Campbell; and, as might be expected from 
his naturally quiet and thoughtful spirit, he came 
without any extraordinary demonstrations. But he 
evidently brought with him, and has manifested 
through his whole subsequent course, a resolute pur- 
pose to do his duty in humble dependence on God's 
gracious Spirit ; and herein consists the very essence 
of practical Christianity. It was an occasion of re- 
gret to his brethren and sisters of the Church, and, 
no doubt, to himself also, that they were not per- 
mitted to hear his voice in connection with their 
social week-day services, but this was probably 
attributable to a diffidence induced partly, at least, 
by his being somewhat advanced in life when he 

2 



10 



made a Christian profession. His deep interest in all 
that pertained to spiritual religion was manifested by 
his devout attendance on these exercises, as well as his 
more private communications with Christian friends, 
and I may add, the general tenor of his life. Into all 
good enterprises, whether designed to act upon the 
interests of religion at home or abroad, he entered 
with his whole heart, and never seemed to grow 
weary in well-doing. His influence, I understand, 
was earnestly and effectively put forth, in the erec- 
tion of this commodious and beautiful edifice ; and he 
has long exercised a watchful care over the financial 
interests of the congregation as President of its Board 
of Trustees. His ear has always been open to the 
calls of suffering humanity, and his hand open to ad- 
minister the needed relief or supply. The far off 
Pagans, bowing before idols, he has not forgotten, 
either in his prayers or in his alms ; and it is by no 
means improbable that there are spots in those desert 
lands that have brightened into spiritual verdure 
through his instrumentality. 

It were impossible to do full justice to the Chris- 
tian character of Dr. March, without some allusion 
to the manner in which he endured his last sufferings 
and met the last enemy. Until within a few weeks 
his prospects of continued life were, I suppose, as 
good as those of any person of equal age before me. 
He was suddenly taken off from his professional 
labours, but, from his natural vigour of constitution, it 



11 



was hoped that he might soon be able to resume 
them. Each successive day, however, seemed to 
render his case increasingly doubtful, and his own 
skill, exercised upon himself, soon revealed to him 
symptoms of approaching death. But this did not 
alarm him. He was - willing to leave himself in his 
Redeemer's hands, and felt the utmost confidence 
that, whether the issue were life or death, it would 
be well with him. He not only joined thankfully 
and earnestly in the prayers that were offered at his 
bedside, and poured forth fervent supplications from 
his own lips, but even requested that a song should 
be sung in honour of the Conqueror of Death ; and his 
own trembling, faltering voice helped to perform the 
affecting service. The agony of his death-bed was 
intense, but it was well-nigh neutralized by his glori- 
ous visions of the future. The friends who gathered 
around him to receive his last farewell, could not 
resist the impression that he was moving fearlessly and 
triumphantly through the dark valle} r . And when 
they saw that the last struggle was over, they felt 
assured that the glories of an immortal life were 
bursting upon him. 

I have spoken of what he has been in his various 
relations — and now shall I say a word of what we 
believe he has become since these relations have ceased 
to exist ? We believe that he has been advanced 
into a glorified saint ; that he is at home among the 
angels ; that he is dressed in white robes ; that he 



12 



bears the palm of victoiy ; that he is lost in the 
admiration of the wonders of redeeming mercy; and 
that he joins with all the ransomed in that new and 
noble song, — " Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to 
receive power and riches and wisdom and strength 
and honour and glory and blessing." We believe 
that, in becoming an inhabitant of the third heavens, 
he has entered on a career of happiness and glory as 
boundless as God's own existence. 

You will not, I hope, think that, in the representa- 
tion I have now made of the friend whose death Ave 
lament, I have intended, even by implication, to 
ignore the fact that he was a sharer in the weak- 
nesses and sins of the common humanity. That he 
had faults I know, because he was human ; but what 
they were I know not. Suffice it to say that, while 
they were not palpable enough to interfere with his 
usefulness, his virtues and graces were sufficiently 
prominent to become deservedly enshrined in our 
grateful remembrances. 

Having thus attempted to show, in the briefest 
manner, what our departed friend was while he was 
in the midst of us, and what he is since he has passed 
on to mingle in higher scenes, let me now hint at the 
process by which this result has been reached. 

And you will anticipate me when I say that it had 
its beginning in the original •qualities with which his 
Creator endowed him. His physical constitution was 
one of great vigour, and of much more than ordinary 



power of endurance. His mind was naturally active, 
well-balanced, practical ; and its capability of acquir- 
ing, retaining and digesting knowledge, remarkable. 
He had a kindly and generous spirit, united with 
great thoughtfulness and strength of purpose. So 
much as this may be reckoned as included in his 
original constitution, as he came from his Creator's 
hands. 

Consider, next, the favourable circumstances under 
which the development of his faculties, the forma- 
tion of his character, took place. Born of parents 
who were not so opulent as to relieve him from the 
necessity of personal effort, and in a part of the 
country where it was both fashionable and honoura- 
ble to work, he had neither the temptation nor the 
opportunity to form a habit of indolent inaction — on 
the contrary, the strongest motives were pressing 
upon him to make the best use of his time. The 
public schools in which he received his early training 
fitted him to enter upon his professional studies; and 
in the j)rosecution of these he was not only aided by 
his own brother, who was a Surgeon in the army of 
the United States, but ultimately became a member 
of a medical institution connected with Brown Uni- 
versity. Meanwhile, especially as long as he remain- 
ed at home, his lot was cast amidst eminently Chris- 
tian influences ; so that all his early impressions were 
favourable to religion. When he began his profes- 
sional life, and became a resident of this city, he 



___ 



14 

soon found himself in circumstances fitted at once to 
encourage and strengthen him — with an ample field 
for labour, and in a circle of kindred spirits ready to 
meet him in goodly co-operation. He graclually 
gained access to jtlaces of the highest influence ; and 
in due time was instrumental in establishing noble 
institutions which re-acted most benignly and effec- 
tively upon his own character. I hardly need add 
that, amid all the worldly influences that have pressed 
upon him here, he has always been within the range 
of Christian institutions and Christian examples, and 
has been a constant hearer of the faithful preaching 
of the Gospel. 

But that which constituted the crowning glory of 
the character of our friend was a living, all-pervacling 
piety ; and for that he was indebted to God's yiacious, 
sanctifying Spirit. He might indeed have been the 
skilful physician, the active member of society, the 
generous sympathizing friend, without this new-crea- 
ting agency ; but the clean heart, and the right spirit, 
and the final companionship with angels, he never 
could have attained without it. And not only did 
the Spirit first implant in his soul the principle of the 
•new life, but it has preserved and quickened and 
finally matured it. It is the Spirit that has guided 
him in his most ordinary pursuits ; that has sanctified 
him by the severest discipline ; that has caused the 
sun of righteousness to shine down into his soul 
through the night-clouds of death ; and that has fixed 



15 



him at last, inside the gates of the Heavenly city, a 
monument of redeeming love. 

Thus it appears that the God of Nature, the God 
of Providence, the God of Grace, is to be reverently 
acknowledged in the life and character and destiny 
of him who has now passed away — the God of 
Nature, in bestowing the original material that has 
been thus moulded and formed ; the God of Provi- 
dence, in ordering events with reference to the result 
that has been produced; and the God of Grace, in 
giving a new heart and opening the gates of Heaven. 
While we admire and venerate the character of our 
friend, let us give all the glory to Him whose wisdom 
and goodness and grace have fashioned it. 

It is fitting that we should mourn when our dear 
friends are taken away ; and if, in one point of view, 
the measure of our grief may well be determined by 
the degree of excellence of which we are deprived, in 
another, this very consideration may be regarded 
as opening the channel for a greater or less amount 
of comfort. In the present case, need I say that, 
whatever view we take of the character or the life, of 
the past, of the present or the future, there is conso- 
lation flowing from every direction. Your dear father 
and friend was eminently favoured both in respect to 
his original endowments and the whole ordering of his 
earthly lot, and he has passed through a long life, not 
only with a stainless character but in the full enjoy- 
ment of a widely extended and most honourable 



1G 

reputation. And what is more, infinitely more, he 
has long been an earnest and consistent Christian ; has 
showed himself at home amidst the most humble and 
self-denying labours; and has rendered a decisive 
and grateful testimony to the truth and the power of 
his religion in the closing hours of life ; and, finally, 
has passed on, as you confidently believe, to mingle 
with the General Assembly and Church of the first- 
born. Mourn you may — mourn indeed you must; 
but surely your mourning must be qualified with 
thankfulness and praise. Well may you bless God 
for having given you such a father and friend ; and for 
having continued him to you so long ; and for giving 
you such evidence that he has now become a king 
and a priest unto God. What remains but that you 
treasure his words of Christian counsel; that you 
ponder his holy example ; that you walk in the foot- 
steps of his faith ; and thus keep yourselves ready, at 
the bidding of the great Master, to ascend in his 
upward track and join him in the services of the 
eternal temple. 

Next to his own beloved family and near relatives, 
those who were immediately associated with him in 
his professional life, and those of whose medical 
education he has had the partial or the entire super- 
intendence, may be supposed to share most deeply 
the sorrows of this bereavement. Let the truly 
Christian spirit that he breathed in the lecture-room, 
at the sick bed, and in, all his intercourse with his 



17 



brethren, be reproduced and cherished and matured 
in all of you, until you are safely and triumphantly 
gathered in that world where the inhabitants shall no 
more say, I am sick. 

To the members of this ancient and venerable con- 
gregation, the death of one of their number, so useful 
and honoured and devoted, comes charged with 
impressive meaning. There are a few here whose 
memories go back to the period when he first became 
one of you, and, though he was never within my 
pastoral charge, it was my privilege to recognize him 
as a friend from the beginning of my residence here, 
which was only a few years later than the beginning 
of his own ; and I am sure that my recollection and 
estimate of his whole course are in harmony with 
yours, and that we remember nothing concerning him 
that we are not willing to embalm. May God grant 
that his good influence here may last through many 
coming years ; that the Church to whose interests he 
was so conscientiously and faithfully devoted may 
still keep on in its Divinely appointed work, sharing 
more and more richly in the grace from above ; and 
that, as its members successively pass away, each one 
may form a fresh addition to the ranks of the ran- 
somed and glorified. 



DEATH OF DR. ALDEN MARCH. 



ALBANY EVENING JOURNAL. 



Thursday June 17, 1869. 

Dr. Alden March has gone to his rest. He died 
this morning at fifteen minutes past seven o'clock at 
the residence of his son-in-law, David I. Boyd, No. 2 
Park Place, where he was removed, when taken ill, 
to be spared the annoyance of business importunities. 
No one among us was more beloved, or possessed, in a 
higher degree, all the noble qualities of the good 
physician and Christian gentleman. 

Dr. Alden March was born in Sutton, Worcester 
County, Mass., in 1795. His early life was passed 
on a farm, and the rudiments of his education acquired 
in public schools, in which, for a short time, he was 
was a teacher. 

He studied medicine with an elder brother, who 
was Surgeon in the United States army, and attended 
medical lectures in Boston. He graduated at the 



20 



Brown University, Providence, R. I., which, at that 
time, had a Department of Medicine. Williams Col- 
lege conferred the degree of LL. D. on Dr. March, 
and he was Honorary member of most of the leading- 
societies of this country. While a student of medi- 
cine, he was distinguished for his zeal and industry in 
the study of Anatomy, and this laid a firm foundation 
for his future surgical renown. In the pursuit of his 
studies, no difficulty seemed too great, no obstacle too 
formidable, for him to overcome. And the same 
indomitable will, perseverance and enthusiasm, have 
characterized his whole professional life. He came 
to Albany in 1820, and immediately commenced the 
practice of his profession, which he pursued with 
untiring devotion and success until his death. 

His often repeated wish, that he might " die with 
his armor on," has been amply fulfilled; for, until 
within the last few weeks, he has been most actively 
engaged in the laborious duties of his profession. 

Immediately previous to his sickness, he made the 
journey to New Orleans, to attend a meeting of the 
National Medical Association, of which he had been 
an honorfed member and President. On his return, 
he was in usual health, engaged actively in surgical 
practice, and only found time occasionally to look 
after the affairs of his farm, a few miles out of town. 
He was passionately fond of agricultural pursuits, 
and in this way exposed himself to cold, which 
kindled into activity a chronic disease, from which 



21 



he had long and uncomplainingly suffered. He was 
attended by his beloved colleagues and friends, Dr. 
James McNaughton, Dr. James P. Boyd, and his 
brother-in-law, Dr. Armsby, and during his last illness 
was visited by most of the medical gentlemen of the 
city. 

His death, in the full vigor of mental and physical 
activity and usefulness, will leave a void in our city 
and in the profession, that will be most deeply felt 
and deplored. Dr. March was one of the most 
remarkable and gifted men of his time. No medical 
man in this country was more widely known, or more 
highly respected and esteemed. It was the common 
remark and testimony of medical men, that Dr. 
March was the highest and best surgical authority in 
this country. Among the prominent medical men of 
Europe, whose acquaintance he had made during his 
frequent visits abroad, he was everywhere received 
with distinguished notice and honor. No improve- 
ment in his profession escaped his attention and 
investigation. His bold and independent habits of 
thought and action were always conspicuous, and he 
originated many new and important improvements in 
surgical science. As a bold, dexterous and skilful 
operator, Dr. March had no superior in this or any 
country. This is the universal testimony of the pro- 
fession, and especially of those who have enjoyed the 
most extensive opportunities of foreign travel and 
observation. Few persons ever combined so many 



22 



of the elements of a great and successful surgeon. 
He had a frame of wonderful power and endurance, 
a mind of electric quickness and ceaseless activity, 
with skill in discrimination, and tact, and dexterity in 
execution, which carried him successfully through 
the most difficult and trying ordeal of surgical prac- 
tice. He was a most thorough student of Anatomy, 
having taught this branch ten years, before he occu- 
pied the chair of Surgery in our Medical College. 
Thus armed with accurate knowledge and skill, he 
was never dismayed by the magnitude or danger of a 
Surgical operation, upon which, perhaps, the safety 
or life of his patient depended. Having prepared 
himself for every emergency, he would commence an 
operation with calmness and self-possession, which 
inspired hope and confidence in his patients, and 
excited admiration and astonishment among his 
assistants and associates. He never seemed to con- 
sider that his own reputation was at stake, when the 
most hazardous operation gave but a slight hope of 
saving the life of a patient. 

At all hours of the day or night, his best services 
were cheerfully and promptly rendered, without par- 
tiality, to the poor and the rich alike ; and while he 
required just compensation from one class, he ren- 
dered as faithful and willing service to the other. 

But the great beauty of his character was in his 
domestic and Christian life. No man was more 
loving, or more beloved in his house, than Dr. March, 



23 



and no one in the Church, of which he was a main 
pillar, was looked up to with more respect and confi- 
dence. His whole life was characterized by sim- 
plicity, honesty and integrity, as evinced in the faith- 
ful fulfilment of every trust confided to his care 
during a long life of public service and honor. 

He was the father and one of the founders of the 
Albany Medical College, and its offspring, the Albany 
City Hospital. More than forty years ago he deliv- 
ered a public lecture " On the Propriety of Establish- 
ing a Medical College and Hospital in the city of 
Albany." Among the last acts of his eventful life, 
he donated to these institutions, each $1,000. To 
the College he bequeathed his pathological museum, 
the most extensive and valuable in this country, with 
$1,000, the interest of which is to be perpetually 
employed for its care and preservation. To the Hos- 
pital he had given the same amount, the interest to 
be expended for the purchase of surgical instruments 
for use in the Hospital. 

The name of Dr. March has long been a household 
word throughout the land. His students are num- 
bered by thousands, in whose hearts his memory is 
embalmed forever. Every one has some kind and 
cherished remembrance of his honored and beloved 
preceptor. Wherever a student or graduate of the 
Albany Medical College is found, (and they are 
scattered throughout the length and breadth of the 
land,) it is claimed, as his highest honor and merit, 



24 



that " he has been a student of Dr. March, of 
Albany." 

When the deceased came to this city, it had a 
population of less than fifteen thousand. With the 
enterprise and activity which have characterized his 
whole life, he at once conceived the idea of establish- 
ing a Medical College and Hospital here. At that 
time there was but one hospital and two colleges 
in the State. He began a course of lectures on 
Anatomy in 1821, in the attic of an old building in 
Montgomery street, above Columbia. His first class 
of students numbered fourteen, most of whom were 
young physicians. His material for demonstration 
was brought overland from Boston, at great expense 
and personal risk. These lectures were continued, 
and petitions were circulated among our citizens, year 
after year, for a charter for a medical college. At 
length, with the aid of his associate, Dr. Armsby, and 
the support of prominent citizens of Albany, a charter 
was' obtained from the Legislature, and our Medical 
College was organized, and commenced operations 
January 3d, 1839. Dr. March has been at the head 
of this institution thirty years, after having labored 
eighteen years to prepare the way for its establish- 
ment. This institution, the fruit of his labors and 
enterprise, the church which he has contributed so 
largely to build up, and the hospital with which he 
has been so prominently identified since its founda- 
tion, and the various other public enterprises with 



25 



which he has been connected, will associate his name 
with the history and progress of Albany, as endur- 
ingly as that of any other citizen. 

The whole city and country will mourn the death 
of Dr. March, and pay fitting tribute to his memory. 



ALBANY MORNING EXPRESS. 



With pain none the less poignant and sorrow none 
the less profound because it has been expected for 
some days, does this community receive the mournful 
intelligence of the death of Dr. Alden March. To 
many it conies with the oppressive force of a perso- 
nal stroke, while to a still wider circle it conveys the 
deep sense of an irreparable public loss. And such, 
indeed, it is. If the ranks of citizenship may afford 
another as worthy, his exalted place in science will 
still be vacant. If others may continue his generous 
public benefactions, there is none to bear the mantle 
of the incomparable instructor. His title to esteem 
and honor was large and varied. To friends he was 
endeared as the man of gentle and kindly sympathy. 
To thousands of students his memory was fresh as 
that of a matchless teacher. To the world he was 
known as the consummate chief of his profession. 



2G 



And to all the extinguishment of his light is the 
departure of a glory which cannot be replaced. 

Dr. Maech was born in Sutton, Worcester County, 
Massachusetts, in September, 1795, and was conse- 
quently, at his death, in the seventy-fourth year of 
his age. Spending his early years on a farm and in 
the public schools, he acquired such education as 
they furnished, and for a short time served as a 
teacher. An elder brother was an army surgeon, 
and with him Dr. March began his medical studies. 
Subsequently he attended lectures in Boston, and 
graduated in the Medical Department of Brown Uni- 
versity. While yet a student he manifested a pecu- 
liar zeal for Anatomy, and thus indicated the bent 
of his remarkable genius. The same indefatigable 
industry and eager enthusiasm which have distin- 
guished his whole professional life, characterized his 
student days, and foretokened his subsequent emi- 
nence. In 1820 he took up his residence in this 
city, and began that successful career which has 
extended through half a century and made his name 
known throughout the world. 

Albany was then a city of only fifteen thousand 
inhabitants. It had none of the institutions which 
have since made it an educational centre. But the 
reputation of Dr. March rapidly rose and attracted 
students from all parts of the country. Even when 
he was himself a student he was preparing the way 
for the Albany Medical College. Of his early labors 



27 



in this direction an interesting account was given by 
his own lips at the Festival of the County Medical 
Society in 1867 — strange comment upon the vicissi- 
tudes of life that both the presiding officer, Dr. Pom- 
fret, and the most distinguished guest, Dr. March, 
should have passed away before either of the three 
venerable physicians, Drs. James McNaughton, B. P. 
Staats and James Wade, in whose honor the festival 
was given ! On this occasion Dr. March related how, 
while a student at Boston, he collected materials, 
forming the nucleus of a museum and laying the 
foundation of the Medical College. As early as 1821, 
he began a course of lectures on Anatomy in an 
ancient garret on Montgomery street. His first class 
numbered fourteen. In those days it was unsafe to 
procure anatomical material in this city. The young 
lecturer was thus compelled to make the overland 
journey to Boston with horse and wagon, but there 
was no obstacle which his unflagging zeal and per- 
severance could not overcome, and his lectures regu- 
larly continued. In 1825, he was appointed Professor 
of Anatomy and Physiology in the Academy of 
Medicine at Castle ton, Vermont. That position he 
held for ten years, delivering his lectures in the 
autumn, and still continuing his practice and private 
lectures in this city. 

In 1831, Dr. Armsby became a student of Dr. 
March, and ever since they have held the most inti- 
mate relations. The project of a Medical College 



28 



was prosecuted with renewed vigor, the enthusiastic 
earnestness and untiring efforts of the younger of the 
professional brothers ably seconding the labors of the 
elder. At length the College was chartered, under 
the Presidency of Dr. March, and the inaugural lec- 
ture was given on the 3d of January, 1839. But a 
Hospital was also to be called into being. As early 
as 1829, Dr. March had delivered a public lecture on 
the importance of such an institution. In this idea, 
also, he had the zealous and effective co-operation of 
Dr. Armsby, and, in 1849, the Hospital was incorpo- 
rated. The regard which Dr. March cherished for 
these institutions was shown not only by his long and 
faithful services to both, but by the liberal donation 
of a thousand dollars to each. Over the College he 
has presided for thirty years, and more than three 
thousand students have sat under his instructions. 

As a Surgeon, Dr. March stood in the front rank. 
His fame not only filled his own land, but extended 
to medical circles throughout Europe. Indeed, com- 
petent authorities assert that he Avas unquestionably 
the foremost surgeon of the world. When Dr. Brain- 
ard, himself an eminent lecturer, returned from 
Europe, he expressed the general judgment in his 
exclamation, " Dr. March is ahead of them all." He 
had rare qualifications for the work. His extraordi- 
nary nerve fitted him to meet the most appalling 
difficulties, and carried him undaunted through the 
most trying ordeals. His grace, too, was as marvel- 



29 



ous as his power. Dr. Howard Townsend, whose fine 
and delicate sense of artistic beauty was unexcelled, 
often expressed his great admiration of the unrivalled 
style, so to speak, in which Dr. March operated. 
Every movement was the embodiment of grace, and 
revealed the hand of the master. To these natural 
endowments of inflexible firmness, of intuitive per- 
ceptions, of swift decision and fine symmetry of 
motion, he united the rarest acquisitions of science. 
With a native taste for anatomy, he knew its most 
recondite secrets. His alert and penetrating mind 
grasped everything within its wide realm. He origi- 
nated the valuable system of cliniques, which has 
since been adopted in all our medical institutions, 
and his name is honorably identified with other 
improvements in the science and in the art of instruc- 
tion. As a lecturer and demonstrator he was unsur- 
passed, while, as a sure, dexterous and consummate 
operator, he stood, by common consent, at the head. 
In private life, Dr. March was greatly and justly 
esteemed. By his family and friends he was deeply 
beloved. By the community he was profoundly 
respected. He was a citizen of public spirit, and, 
above all, a Christian of exemplary life. His simple 
virtues blended beautifully with his unostentatious 
greatness, and cast a benign influence upon every 
circle in which he moved. His death is a signal loss 
not only to the friends whom he constantly cheered 
by his example, not only to the city which he has 



30 



adorned and assisted with such enduring institutions, 
but to the entire country which recognized and was 
proud of his fame. 

There is, indeed, something which impresses itself 
with peculiar force when the good physician dies. To 
hundreds he has been the minister of life. They 
come to regard him as the combatant of death, and 
when the skilful arm which has shielded them is 
itself struck with the mortal paralysis, they feel the 
shock with a keener sensitiveness. And that was 
a touching scene when those who had been the 
co-laborers of Dr. March came to bid farewell to the 
dying physician. Many of them were his pupils in 
years gone by, and had drawn from the ample stores 
of his knowledge useful and lasting lessons. Others, 
forming his acquaintance later in life, had learned to 
admire him for his superior skill, and to love him for 
his kindly heart. On all rested the shadow of a deep 
grief. He, whose well-trained eye was so quick to 
detect the approach of danger, and whose hand was 
so potent to save, lay himself within the portals of 
death's door. Mournfully they bade him farewell, 
speaking as to one starting on a long journey — while 
his words to them were calm as became a thoughtful 
man — hopeful as befitted a devout Christian. And 
so in the repose of serene peace he laid aside his 
armor ! 



31 



MEETING OF THE CITIZENS OF ALBANY 



A meeting of citizens was held this morning at 10 
o'clock, in the rooms of the Board of Trade, to pay a 
tribute of respect to the memory of the late Dr. 
Alden March. Many of our prominent citizens were 
present. 

The meeting was called to order by Stewart 
McKissock, Esq., on whose motion Hon. Thomas W. 
Olcott was called to the Chair, and Mr. Chas. E. 
Smith was made Secretary. On motion, the Chairman 
appointed the following Committee on Resolutions : 
Messrs. S. 0. Shepard, Hon. R. W. Peckham, Frank 
Chamberlain, S. McKissock and George Dawson. 

Judge Peckham, from the Committee on Resolu- 
tions, reported the following : 

In the full maturity of years, ripened by the experience of gene- 
rations, but with his faculties still unimpaired and his armor 
undimmed, Dr. Alden March has just gone to his rest. 

Eminent in his profession, earnest in purpose, unsullied in repu- 
tation, faithfully did he pursue, and grandly did he accomplish the 
life-work to which he was called. 

He has bequeathed to our city the memory of his professional 
renown, of his industrious and useful life, of his social virtues, and 
his Christian manhood. Therefore, it is 

Resolved, That in the death of Dr. Alden March, this com- 
munity has sustained the loss of one of its most distinguished 
members; one whose character combined, in the rarest proportions, 
those qualities which ensure distinction, which command the admira- 



32 



tion of those who are competent to appreciate greatness, as well as 
the esteem of those who can appreciate goodness. 

Resolved, That from whatever stand-point we contemplate our 
deceased fellow citizen, honest manhood, earnestness of purpose, 
purity of life aod kindness of heart, all assume their positions in 
the beautiful symmetry of his character, and lend their attractive- 
ness to the grand proportions of his professional renown. 

Resolved, That we tender to his family our sympathy in their 
affliction, and that a copy of these resolutions be transmitted to 
them. 

When the resolutions were read, Judge Harms said : 

Mr. Chairman — The business of the hour has been 
arrested that we might turn aside and pay a tribute 
of respect to the memory of one of our most highly 
esteemed and distinguished citizens. The announce- 
ment of the death of Dr. Alden March has awak- 
ened throughout the entire city a profound sense of 
bereavement. 

Though he had attained the allotted age of man, 
yet he has died in the midst of his activity and use- 
fulness, and when human foresight would have 
assigned to him more years of vigorous health. His 
death repeats to us, in the most impressive form, the 
melancholy lesson of our own mortality. 

Death is, indeed, busy in our midst. How often 
do we miss, in our daily walks, the familiar face of 
one and another whom we had been accustomed to 
meet ! At this very hour the grave is open to 
receive another of our most estimable and worthy 
citizens. Is there not in these sad events a solemn 
lesson for us all ? When death comes so near to us 



33 



and so frequently, shall we not listen to his voice, 
imperious yet admonitory, " Be ye also ready ? " 

How soon, Mr. Chairman, may some kind friend 
invoke for you and me, the same tribute which we 
now so justly pay to the memory of our departed 
friend and fellow-citizen ? 

Mr. Chairman, a great sorrow has indeed fallen 
upon our city. Dr. March was a most remarkable 
man. His character was of a marked and lofty tyj)e. 
Without fortune, without influential friends, without 
any superior advantages of education, he commenced 
his career in this city nearly fifty years ago ; and, by 
his energy and persevering industry, has raised him- 
self to the very highest measure of professional emi- 
nence. 

Our community, in his death, has lost one of its 
noblest men. There are few remaining among us 
whose place can be less easily filled. No man was 
more universally beloved. The death of none would 
be more universally lamented. As a man who 
adorned his profession, we honored him ; as a man of 
noble character, we cherish his memory ; as a true 
and faithful friend, he was beloved by us all; as a 
consistent Christian, we admired him most of all. 
What a glorious example, living and dying, he has 
left for our imitation. 

Dr. March has passed through the vicissitudes of a 
long life. He has met and manfully fulfilled the 
duties allotted to him. Death came to him in the 



> 



34 



ripeness of his years, his virtues and his fame. No 
stain rests upon his honored name. There was a 
moral beauty in his life, and we do well to com- 
memorate his virtues. 

Thus, Mr. Chairman, we pay our last tribute to 
the memory of one whose life has been long and use- 
ful and eminent. Rarely, indeed, have the portals 
of the sepulchre opened to receive a better man. 
There have been very few whose labors have been 
more useful, or who have secured for themselves a 
reputation more enviable or enduring. We respected 
and admired him while living, and, now that he is 
dead, we render our sincere homage to his memory. 

Hon. Amasa J. Parker followed in an impressive 
address, directed particularly to the professional emi- 
nence of Dr. March. He said we had assembled to 
pay a tribute to the memory of a truly great man ; of 
one who was profoundly esteemed by the community 
in which we live. Under such circumstances, no mar- 
tial music, no waving of flags, no grand military or 
civic parade, is necessary to gather the citizens 
together. We come impelled by the deep sense of a 
great public loss. He did not purpose to speak of the 
admirable personal qualities which made Dr. March 
so greatly beloved by all who knew him — that 
had been fittingly done by the gentleman who had 
just taken his seat, and, were he to go over the 
ground again, it would be but a needless repetition. 



35 



He desired to direct his few remarks especially to 
the professional success and eminence of Dr. March. 
In this city, distinguished for its honored and suc- 
cessful physicians and surgeons, the lamented dead 
was universally recognized while living, as standing 
at the head. This, in itself, was a great honor, and 
was worthy of special remembrance. But his fame 
extended far beyond our limits. The speaker remem- 
bered an incident which occurred while he was on 
his return from Europe two or three years since. 
Dr. Brainard, himself an eminent medical authority, 
and the President of the Medical Institution at 
Chicago, was on board the same vessel, returning to 
deliver his fall lectures. In the course of conversa- 
tion one day, Dr. Brainard referred to Dr. March, 
and expressed his surprise that so many should go to 
Paris for the instructions of her celebrated surgeons, 
while such a man as Dr. March lived in their own 
country. Dr. March, in his judgment, was as great 
and even superior to any surgeon of Paris. This 
was a voluntary tribute. It came from one who was 
in some sense a rival, and the head of a rival insti- 
tution. The speaker confessed that it made him 
feel proud of being a citizen of Albany. We had, 
indeed, sustained a great loss, and he felt that it 
would be long before we met again on an occasion 
of such sincere and unfeigned sorrow. 






Judge Peckham said : 

Mr. Chairman and Fellow-Citizens — A great and 
a good man has fallen in our city. One known to all, 
respected and beloved by all, has departed, never to 
return to us again. It seems, as it were, but yester- 
day that we greeted with peculiar satisfaction, the 
genial face and manly form of our departed friend, 
Dr. March, as he walked our streets in apparent 
health and vigor. We shall greet him here no more 
forever. How sad is the thought to us, who knew 
and loved him so well. 

I said he was a great man: Greatness belongs to 
no peculiar department of life. It would seem 
singular that we should call the warrior great, who 
has been successful in destroying life, and yet with- 
hold that dignity from one distinguished for his suc- 
cess in preserving life. Few, if any names stand 
higher as a surgeon in the civilized world than the 
name of Dr. March, of Albany. 

Though born elsewhere, his long residence here, 
extending to nearly half a century, almost gave to 
this city the right to claim him as her son; and 
never did a city take greater pride in her offspring. 

Nature designed him for a great man. She gave 
him a strong physical frame, equal to any fatigue, 
with great mental power, an earnest nature, and an 
iron will ; and his persevering industry perfected 
what nature designed. 



37 



The peculiar characteristics of our friend were the 
earnestness and simplicity of his nature. His whole 
life was earnest — earnest and real in discharging 
the high duties he had assumed. It is truly said 
that he was in love with his profession. But the 
ardor of his nature made him in love with any work 
he assumed to discharge. Even his recreations were 
labors. He had a great love for agriculture ; and 
upon his small farm where he frequently retired for 
recreation, no laborer, while he was there, ever 
worked with more energy than himself. 

In his professional lectures, continued for many 
years to his medical classes, this earnestness gave a 
peculiar interest to his originality and learning. 

He was simple in his tastes and in all his habits 
of life. He always had time for duties. He had 
neither time nor taste for superfluous ornamentation. 
There was nothing finical about him. Modesty and 
manliness were a part of his nature. In such a man, 
there was, as there could be, no moral obliquity. His 
integrity was high-toned. He could not degrade his 
manly nature by any mean or dishonest conduct. 
There was no belittling cunning in him — nothing 
that detracted from his mental or moral manhood. 

The success that necessarily attended his eminence 
in his profession gave him early pecuniary independ- 
ence, and he gave, in his public and private charities, 
with a munificent spirit. The world is wiser and 
happier that he lived in it. 



;s 



He fulfilled his mission on earth and has gone to 
his rest. He, if any one, may look for the reception 
above: "Well done, good and faithful servant; 
enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." 

S. 0. Shepard, Esq., said: 

Mr. Chairman — Permit me to add a word of 
unstudied tribute to those which have already so 
justly and eloquently been uttered. It is eminently 
becoming that our citizens should thus assemble to 
commemorate the worth of one, over whom these 
words of eulogy have just been uttered. This very 
assemblage of citizens, of different professions, of 
different occupations, spontaneous as it is, is an elo- 
quent tribute in itself, springing, as it does, from the 
hearts of the people, who were the friends, the neigh- 
bors, the companions, of our departed friend. It illus- 
trates the worth and the character of the man, and 
the deep, strong hold which he maintained upon their 
love and their confidence. 

For nearly one-half of a century has the busy 
brain of Dr. Alden March been pondering over the 
subtle intricacies of those curiously constructed frames, 
for the benefit of that common humanity with which 
he was so closely and so warmly identified. For 
nearly fifty years has that keen eye been peering 
anxiously and closely in among the hidden mysteries 
of our physical being, to discover, if possible, some 
new method of alleviating its miseries. For fifty 



39 



years has that fine ear, now dull in death, been 
earnestly listening to catch the faintest notes struck 
out by the hand of disease from some one of the 
thousand strings of this harp which is constructed 
with such wondrous cunning. For fifty years has 
that steady hand and arm, in which no longer the 
life pulse beats, guided with curious skill the relent- 
less steel as it wound its tortuous way down, far 
down among the springs of life, where the variation 
of its edge by a hair's breadth would give death 
another victim, unmoved by the shriek of agony, 
unshaken by the doubtful questionings of those, 
who, almost his compeers in science, yet shrunk at 
the apparent audacity of the operation. Still and 
steadily the steel moved on, controlled by that daring- 
hand, until success crowned the effort and disease 
was arrested. Well has he won, and worthily has he 
worn, the laurels which a discriminating profession 
has awarded. 

Do we remember our friend as a citizen of this 
great Republic 1 We find him in this relation still 
exhibiting those elements and_ qualities which ever 
dignify our humanity. Patriotic, loyal, true-hearted 
and zealous, his services were ever ready, his hand 
ever open at the call. 

Do we remember him as a citizen dwelling in our 
midst ? He is ever found identifying himself with all 
of the best and truest interests of our citizens, aiding 
in every work of philanthropy, his heart ever throb- 



■ 



40 



bing in close sympathy with those among whom he 
had cast his lot ; his name a household word in their 
homes, his presence bringing light and hope and joy 
into those households which disease had darkened. 

Do we in later years remember him as a Christian 
man ? Meekly did he take up and manfully did he 
bear the crosses which were laid in his pathway, and 
beautifully did he illustrate, in his pure and earnest 
life, the power which that faith which he professed 
exerted upon the inner man. 

But he has gone to his rest, bequeathing, Mr. Chair- 
man, to this city, the memory of his professional 
renown, the example of an unsullied life, the history 
of a life-work splendidly performed. 

Upon the conclusion of Mr. Shepard's remarks, the 
resolutions were unanimously adopted, and the meet- 
ing adjourned. 



ALBANY COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY. 



At a special meeting of the Albany County Medi- 
cal Society, held in the City Hospital, Friday, June 
18th, 1869, the President, Dr. James L. Babcock, 
after calling the meeting to order, said : 

Gentlemen — It devolves upon me to announce to 
you the death of Dr. Alden March. He died in this 



41 



city yesterday morning, at the residence of his son- 
in-law, Mr. David I. Boyd. We are convened to-day 
to express our sense of this bereavement; and it is 
meet for us, as members of that honorable profession 
which he loved and adorned, to mingle our tears with 
those of his relatives, and our demonstrations of 
respect and regard with the various associations to 
which he belonged ; with the city of his residence, 
and with the public at large. 

This is not the time to speak in detail of the dis- 
tinguished deceased. Having practised his profession 
for almost half a century, he fell, full of years and 
full of honors, conceded to be one of the eminent 
physicians of the city, of the State, and of the 
Nation. His life was a success. He acquired wealth, 
attained professional eminence, high social position, 
and maintained an unblemished public and private 
character. As a surgeon he possessed a skill in 
diagnosis that led him to correct conclusions, and a 
firmness of will that made his hand the fit executive 
of his almost unerring judgment. " The blessings of 
those that were ready to perish " often fell upon him, 
whose consummate skill and devoted professional 
attention had given to them health and years of com- 
fort and of usefulness. 

In his domestic relations, those who knew him best 
loved him most ; in his life as a citizen he won our 
respect and regard, and above all a life so successful, 
useful and honored is crowned with the promise of 

6 



42 



Him whose word cannot fail, " Blessed are the dead 
which die in the Lord, for they rest from their labors 
and their works do follow them." 

Dr. James McNaughton then said : 

Mr. President — I have been requested to make a 
few remarks in connection with the mournful event 
which has called us together. My heart is too full to 
give utterance to what I feel on this solemn occasion. 
The death of such a man as Dr. March, our late asso- 
ciate and lamented friend, is no ordinary occurrence. 
Few men in this community would be more missed, 
and fewer still could be found, in the whole State, to 
fill his place, in the estimation and confidence of the 
citizens of Albany. I have known him long and 
intimately. I preceded him two or three years as a 
resident of Albany. He came here in 1820. We 
became early acquainted. In 1821, I was appointed 
Professor of Anatomy in the College of Physicians 
and Surgeons of the Western District of this State, 
and he began a private course of lectures on Anatomy 
in this city the same year. A few years later he was 
appointed Professor of Anatomy at Castleton, Ver- 
mont. 

We thus soon became, in some degree, competitors 
for students, and, in some sense, rival teachers. I did 
all I could for my school, he for his. We were both 
successful. I saw my class increase from 53 to 214. 
The Castleton School had a class of over 100. Both 



43 



schools were considered promising. There was room 
for both. But when it was proposed to establish a 
Medical College at Albany, and another at Geneva, 
the case became different. They could not all be 
supported adequately. I wanted very naturally to 
protect my own school, while my late colleague as 
naturally wished to get up a school at Albany. This 
made us for several years take opposite sides in medi- 
cal politics. 

But it affords me pleasure to state that this opposi- 
tion of interests did not interrupt the personal rela- 
tions between us. We were always on friendly 
terms. In 1840, I was invited to take the Professor- 
ship of the Practice of Physic in the Albany Medical 
College. Since then our relations have been intimate 
and cordial, and on occasions of sickness and severe 
suffering in my own person, I have experienced at his 
hands kindness and tenderness like that of a brother. 

Many thought my lamented friend rough and 
unfeeling, but I knew him to be tender and gentle, 
and ever ready to relieve the distressed, without the 
prospect of fee or reward, when others, who affected 
greater sensibility, like the Levite " would pass on 
the other side." This is not a fit time or place to 
dwell on the merits of Dr. Makch as a surgeon or 
professor. His merits in both capacities are too well 
known to all present to need any eulogy from me. 
In all the relations of life he was esteemed and 
respected. 



44 



Dr. James P. Boyd then remarked as follows : 

Mr. President — I cannot let this opportunity pass 
without adding my tribute to the memory of this 
good and great man who has left us forever. After 
what has already been said, and what the whole 
country knows, of his professional abilities, it will be 
wholly unnecessary for me to add a word. 

I would merely hint at his private character, as an 
example worthy of imitation. Dr. March was a sys- 
tematic man — he had a place tor everything, and 
everything in its place. He never postponed until 
to-morrow what could be performed to-day. Often 
after a late return from professional engagements in 
the country, tired and weary, he would not retire to 
rest until all letters and communications received in 
his absence had been answered. He has often told 
me that it was his rule to answer all letters immedi- 
ately on their receipt. He was an economical man. 
He never contracted a debt until he was prepared to 
meet it. His rule was to " owe no man anything." 
He was a benevolent man, not only in giving gratui- 
tous services to the sick, but also in contributing lib- 
erally to the great benevolent objects of the day, but 
especially in giving support to the Gospel of his 
Saviour, not only in his own Church, but in also 
extending his charities to a perishing world. 

If I may be allowed to lift the curtain which con- 
cealed his domestic relations, I would reveal the most 
beautiful, the most amiable traits of his character. 



45 



It was here the man — the father — the counsellor ^- 
the Christian — -were brought out in one beautiful 
constellation. 

No one who only saw Dr. March in the active 
scenes of life, or in the operating room, could realize 
the fine sensibilities of his nature, as developed in 
the bosom of his family. 

But, the crowning glory of Dr. March's character, 
was his consistent Christianity. Always punctual 
and in his place, performing all the external duties 
pertaining to his Christian profession, both in the 
Church and in his family. But he is gone. The pro- 
fession has lost one of its brightest ornaments, the 
Church a consistent Christian, the world a bene- 
factor. 

Dr. Barent P. Staats then addressed the meeting 
as follows : 

Mr. President — We have assembled here on a 
mournful occasion. For the purpose of mourning the 
loss of an eminent brother, and for the purpose of 
paying respect to his memory. Did I say mourning ? 
Yes it is true and proper that we should mourn on an 
occasion like this. If our Saviour could comfort 
Mary and her sister Martha, and weep at the grave 
of Lazarus whom he loved, we may certainly be per- 
mitted to weep for one we so dearly loved and 
respected. It has been my good fortune to have 
been intimate with our departed friend for more than 



46 



forty years, during which time I have always received 
from him the most friendly and kindest treatment. 

Dr. March was truly the architect of his own 
Temple of Fame, which temple is one that is not sur- 
passed by any, and will prove a shining monument 
to the young who seek eminence. He had lived 
beyond the time allotted to man, yet like Moses at 
his death, his " eye was not dim, neither was his 
natural force abated." There are but a few of us 
who commenced practice at the time when the Doctor 
commenced, and most of them, if not all, have already 
passed the time allotted to man ; and do we not in this 
sudden and unexpected death, hear the injunction, 
" Be ye also ready." 

Dr. James McNaughton then offered the following 
resolutions, which were adopted : 

Whereas, it hath pleased G-od to remove by death, our venerable 
and distinguished associate, Alden March, for nearly half a cen- 
tury an ornament to our profession, and a blessing to the community 
in which he resided : 

Resolved, That in his death, while we humbly submit to the 
decree of the Almighty, we are permitted to express our sorrow, 
that one so dear to us as an associate, friend and adviser, has been 
taken from us forever in this world. 

Resolved, That in his life and character, as a skillful, devoted, 
and conscientious physician, and as an active, consistent Christian, 
he has left us an example worthy of our imitation. 

Resolved, That as a mark of respect due to the memory of our 
deceased brother, this society will attend the funeral in a body, and 
invite other medical men to unite with us, using the customary 
badge of mourning on the left arm on that solemn occasion. 

Resolved, That a copy of these proceedings, together with an 
assurance of our sympathy and condolence, be transmitted to the 



47 



family of the deceased, entered on our minutes, and published in 
such papers as our Secretary may direct. 

Dr. S. 0. Vanderpool then offered the following 
resolution, which was adopted : 

Resolved, That the President appoint a committee of three mem- 
bers to select a proper person to prepare an oration on the life and 
services of Dr. Alden March to be delivered at a fitting time 
before the Society and citizens of Albany. 

The Society then adjourned. 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



At a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the First 
Presbyterian Church, held on the evening of Thurs- 
day, June 17th, Mr. Andrew E. Brown was elected 
President pro tern. Dr. James P. Boyd offered the 
following preamble and resolutions : 

As Trustees of the First Presbyterian Church, we are met under 
sad circumstances. He who has been associated with us in this 
Board so many years, and who has presided over its deliberations 
for twenty-three years is no more. 

Dr. March united with the First Presbyterian Church in this 
city in June, 1840, under the Pastorate of Rev. Dr. Campbell. 
In 1841, he was elected a Trustee, and, in 1846, President of the 
Board of Trustees, which office he continued to hold for twenty- 
three years, until death severed the union. 



48 



Dr. March was a sincere Christian, devoting himself conscien- 
tiously to the duties pertaining to his Christian profession. His 
seat in the church on the Sabbath, and in the prayer meeting 
during the week, was rarely vacant. In the financial affairs of the 
church, which have properly belonged to his office as Trustee, he 
took a deep interest, and managed the pecuniary affairs of the 
church with the same care and economy as if they were his own 
private property. When the edifice in which he lately worshipped 
was built, he was one of the most liberal contributors; and, indeed, 
the prosperity of this enterprise was very much advanced by his 
deep interest and untiring zeal, as well as by his contributions in 
money. 

In the service of the sanctuary it was pleasing to see his deep 
earnestness and devotion, and especially in uniting his heart and 
voice with the church in the praise of his Heavenly Father. 

But we shall hear his voice — we shall see his face no more. 
But what is our loss, we believe, is his infinite gain. We humbly 
believe that he has only left the service of the Church on Earth to 
join in the eternal praises of the Church in Heaven. Therefore, 

Resolved, That we deeply feel the loss of our brother, whose 
place will be difficult to fill. We deeply sympathize with the 
church, from whom is taken one of its most efficient officers ; and 
we mingle our tears and our sorrows with the bereaved, loving- 
family who. have lost their head — their affectionate father, their 
faithful counsellor, their spiritual guide. 

Resolved, That we attend the funeral, and that a copy of these 
resolutions be transmitted to the bereaved family, and published in 
the newspapers, signed by the President pro tern, and Clerk. 

ANDREW E. BROWN, President pro tern. 

Howard Boyd, Clerk. 



49 



ALBANY MEDICAL COLLEGE. 



A meeting of the Trustees of the Albany Medical 
College was convened on the 18th hist., to take action 
on the death of its venerable President, Alden 
March, when the following resolutions were adopted : 

Whereas, Cod in his infinite wisdom has removed by death, 
from this institution, its beloved and honored father and founder, 
Dr. Alden March; therefore 

Resolved, That, in this mournful dispensation, we recognize the 
wisdom and beneficence of the Almighty in permitting this great 
and good man to fill up the measure of his days in the full vigor of 
his mental and physical activity and usefulness. 

Resolved, That this institution has suffered by his death an irre- 
parable loss, and the cause of Medical Science one of its most able 
and successful promoters. 

Resolved, That while we remember his life-long services and 
sacrifices, in preparing the way, building up and enriching this 
cherished institution, we deem it a fitting tribute to his memory that 
his place as Professor in the College shall remain vacant one year, 
and his branch of Science be taught by a lecturer selected pro tern. 

Resolved, That we tender our heartfelt sympathy to his bereaved 
family and friends, to the members of that noble profession which 
the purity of his Christian life and the brilliancy of his scientific 
attainments have contributed so much to honor and adorn. 

Resolved, That we attend the funeral in a body, and wear the 
usual badge of mourning. 

IRA HARRIS, President. 

G-eorge Dexter, Secretary. 



At a meeting of the Faculty of the Albany Medi- 
cal College, held June 18th, 1869, the following 

7 



50 

resolutions on the death of Dr. Alden March were 
presented by Dr. Quackenbush and adopted : 

Whereas, it seemed good to an all-wise God, inscrutable in His 
providence, but plenteous in His mercy, to remove by death, our 
beloved President and friend, Alden March, from the sphere of 
his usefulness; therefore 

Rexolved, That we lose in our Senior Associate Professor — the 
founder of the Albany Medical College — a man of great intelli- 
gence and of practical sense, of intense and persevering interest for 
the sick and needy, of eminent public enterprise and benevolence, 
and of ardent Christian character. 

Resolved, That as a body, we look back with feelings of earnest 
love and respect on his long, honorable and distinguished career as 
an able and skillful practitioner and teacher of medicine and surgery. 

Resolved, That we extend our most cordial sympathy to his 
bereaved family, and pray God to comfort them with His sustaining 
grace. 

Resolved, That we attend his funeral in a body, and wear the 
usual badge of mourning. 

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be presented to the 
family of the deceased, and be published in the daily papers of this 
city. 

JAS. McNAUGHTON, President pro tern. 

J. V. Lansing, Secretary pro tern. 



At a meeting of the resident Students and Gradu- 
ates of the Albany Medical College (class of '68,) 
held June 17th, 1869, the following tribute to the 
memory of Dr. Alden March, the founder, chief 
support and President of the institution, was unani- 
mously adopted : 



51 



Resolved, That we honor the memory of him who was so suddenly 
stricken down in the midst of the well-earned rewards of his pro- 
fession. With a deep sense of the loss we have sustained, we feel 
that, in cherishing his memory and example, we shall best honor him, 
and ennoble our lives and profession. 

Resolved, That while we deeply feel this sad affliction, we are 
rejoiced to bear witness to his noble character, his rigid discipline, 
his untiring perseverance, his sincere devotion to the cause of medi- 
cal education, and his zeal and truthfulness in imparting information. 

Resolved, That we tender to his family our most heartfelt sym- 
pathy. 

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be transmitted to the 
family. 

W. Gt. TUCKER, President. 

Wm, Hailes, Jr., Secretary. 



ALBANY HOSPITAL. 



A meeting of the Governors of the Albany Hos- 
pital was held on the 18th hist., to pay suitable 
respect to the memory of Dr. March, the senior sur- 
geon of the hospital. The following resolutions were 
adopted : 

Whereas, it has pleased Almighty God to remove by death the 
venerable head of our Surgical Staff, Dr. Alden March; there- 
fore 

Resolved, That in his death this institution has lost one of the 
oldest, ablest and most efficient members of its staff, who, from its 
foundation, has labored, with untiring and self-sacrificing devotion, 
for the good of the Hospital and its suffering inmates. 

Resolved, That while the profession and the public have sustained 
an irreparable loss by his death, the sick and helpless poor have 
been deprived of their kindest and most faithful friend. 



/ 



52 



Resolved, That in extending our warmest sympathies to the rela- 
tives of the deceased, we remember the afflicted who have so long- 
looked to him for comfort and relief. 

Resolved, That as a token of our great respect for his memory, 
his place as surgeon shall remain vacant for one year; and that a 
portrait of the deceased be placed in the lecture room of the Hos- 
pital, with the usual mourning drapery. 

Resolved, That we will attend his funeral in a body, and that a 
copy of these resolutions be entered on the minutes of the Hospital, 
and furnished to the family of the deceased, and to the daily news- 
papers. 

T. W. OLCOTT, President. 

Stephen (xroesbeck, Secretary. 



CITY TRACT AND MISSIONARY SOCIETY. 



At a special meeting of the Managers of the 
Albany City Tract and Missionary Society, held on 
the 18th hist., to take action on the death of Dr. 
Almen March, a committee, consisting of William 
Gould, R. H. Wells and George W. Carpenter, Jr., 
was appointed to draft resolutions expressive of the 
feelings of the Board. They reported the following, 
which were unanimously adopted: 

Resolved, That we have heard with feelings of sorrow and regret 
of the death of our esteemed friend, Dr. Alden March, for many 
years President of this Society, and at his death one of its Vice- 
presidents. 

Resolved, That in the death of Dr. March this Society has lost 
a faithful, zealous friend, and this city, so long his home, an upright 



53 



citizen, who was not only eminent in his profession, hut whose life 
was devoted to the advancement of every enterprise for the promo- 
tion of religion and morality in our midst. 

Resolved, That these resolutions be entered upon the minutes of 
the Board, and a copy be transmitted to the family of the deceased. 

R. H. WELLS, President. 
Geo. W. Carpenter, Jr., Secretary. 



DUDLEY OBSERVATORY. 



At a meeting of the Trustees of the Dudley Obser- 
vatory, held June 18th, 1869, the following resolu- 
tions were adopted : 

Whereas, the great Architect and Ruler of the Heavens has 
seen fit in His wisdom to remove by death one of our number, 
Dr. Alden March ; therefore 

Resolved, That we feel deeply the loss of that wise counsel and 
firm support which has been so constantly given to this institution 
of science, from its inception through all its struggles, and which 
has contributed so much to its success and usefulness. 

Resolved, That the cause of science has lost by the death of Dr. 
March one of its ablest promoters and most devoted and faithful 
students. 

Resolved, That while we tender our heartfelt sympathy to his 
sorrowing family, we call to mind the virtues of his Christian 
character, and his constant recognition of the wisdom, power and 
goodness of Cod in all the works of His creation. 

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be published in the 
papers of the city, and furnished to the family of the deceased. 

T. W. OLCOTT, President. 
J. H. Armsbt, Secretary. 



54 



MECHANICS' AND FARMEES 1 BANK. 



At a special meeting of the Directors of the 
Mechanics' and Farmers' Bank, held June 18th, the 
following resolution was passed : 

Resolved, In the death of the venerable Dr. March, the Direc- 
tors of this Bank have lost an esteemed associate and valued 
friend, and our Cashier is requested to convey to the family of the 
deceased the assurance of our warmest sympathies in this afflictive 
dispensation ; and that he cause these proceedings to be published 
in the city papers, as a feeble tribute to exalted worth. 

DUDLEY OLCOTT, Cashier. 



RURAL CEMETERY. 



At a meeting of the Trustees of the Albany Rural 
Cemetery the following resolutions were adopted ■ 

Whereas, an allwise Cod, in His over-ruling Providence, has 
removed by death one of our number, Dr. Alden March, whose 
efficiency and good taste have contributed so much to improve and 
adorn the beautiful home of our dead ; therefore, 

Resolved, That in his death the Albany Sural Cemetery has lost 
one of its earliest and most persistent supporters. 

Resolved, That while we sympathize with his bereaved relatives, 
we rejoice that his honored remains are to repose in that beautiful 
spot which his own hands have prepared and embellished. 



55 



Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be furnished to the 
family of the deceased, and published in the papers of the city. 
THOMAS W. OLCOTT, President. 
C. Van Benthuysen, Secretary. 



YOUNG- MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION. 



At a meeting of the Board of Directors of the 
Young Mens' Christian Association, held at their 
rooms on Monday evening, June 21st, 1869, the fol- 
lowing tribute of respect was ordered entered on 
their minutes : 

Whereas, we have heard with profound sorrow of the death of 
the eminent physician and surgeon, the sincere Christian, the upright 
and public spirited citizen, Dr. Alden March, a life member of 
this Association, and its firm friend from its organization; therefore 

Resolved, That we appreciate the great loss the community at 
large has sustained in the death of this useful citizen and devoted 
Christian, and also, as one of the friends of this Association; and 
that we shall ever cherish with grateful remembrance, the kind 
feelings and generous support he ever extendsd toward it, and find 
therein an example worthy of our emulation. 

Resolved, That to the family of the deceased we tender our sincere 
sympathy, and pray that the " Great Physician " will heal the 
wounds inflicted by the last enemy, death, and sanctify to all this 
Providence. 

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be transmitted to the 
family, and published in the daily papers of the city. 

JAMES DUNCAN, 
J. HAMPDEN WOOD, 
D. G. STALEY, 

Committee. 



_^ - 



50 



FUNEKAL OF DE. MAECH. 



The funeral of the late Dr. Alden Maech occurred 
at the First Presbyterian Church yesterday after- 
noon, and was of the most impressive character. 
Long before the hour named, half-past three o'clock, 
a great number of citizens had assembled. It was 
undoubtedly the largest funeral which ever took 
place in this city. Twice or thrice the number that 
could possibly be accommodated in the church gath- 
ered about it. All classes of citizens were repre- 
sented, and the presence of many of the poorer 
orders was particularly noticeable — a signal testi- 
mony to the kindness and humanity with which Dr. 
March responded to all calls upon his professional 
skill. 

Many persons were in attendance from remote 
parts of the State. We may mention one case that 
has come to our knowledge. A lady living out of 
town, upon whose husband Dr. March had performed 
a delicate operation within the past year, presented 
herself at the residence where his remains reposed, 
saying she felt so grateful to him that she had come 
to see his face before he was buried, and to attend his 
funeral. And this was one of several instances. 

The members of the medical profession attended 
the funeral in a body, . and among them especially 



57 



were many from other parts of the State. The Trus- 
tees and officers of the First Presbyterian Church, 
the Governors of the City Hospital, the Directors of 
the Medical College, Rural Cemetery and Observa- 
tory, and the Students of the Medical College also 
attended in bodies. 

At the residence of David I. Boyd, Esq., son-in- 
law of Dr. March, where the remains reposed, a 
prayer was offered by Rev. Mr. Ludlow, and the 
remains were then conveyed to the Church, accom- 
panied by the relatives, by Drs. James McNaughton 
and Boyd, the attending physicians, by the officiating 
clergymen and the following pall-bearers: Hon. Ira 
Harris, Thos. W. Olcott, Ezra P. Prentice, Wm. H. 
De Witt, Henry Newman, Frederick J. Barnard, 
Wm. Mitchell and Andrew E. Brown. The coffin 
was an elegant rosewood casket trimmed inside and 
outside in the richest style, solid and plain, with 
heavy silver plate, the other trimmings being rich 
ebony, with black handles. 

The pulpit was occupied by the Rev. Mr. Blaney, at 
present officiating in the First Presbyterian Church, 
Rev. Dr. Sprague, Rev. Dr. Halley, and Rev. Dr. 
Wines, of New York. The exercises were begun 
with the reading of the Scriptures by Rev. Mr. Bla- 
ney, after which Dr. Halley offered an impressive 
and appropriate prayer. The hymn, " Rock of 
Ages," was sung, and Dr. Sprague followed in an 
admirable and appreciative discourse on the deceased 

8 



58 



He said that we were in the habit of speaking of the 
silence of death, but that in reality nothing was more 
eloquent in its instructions. He then spoke of Dr. 
March as he had been, as the faithful husband and 
the devoted father, as an earnest member of the 
Church, and as the eminent surgeou; following this 
with a reference to what he was now as a partaker in 
the immortal joys of the higher realm. Next he 
traced the causes, speaking of the physical consti- 
tution, the mental activity and temperament, the 
history and surroundings which had molded his life, 
and finally of his crowning glory, that of being a 
devout Christian. He closed by drawing the lessons 
which the life and death of the departed conveyed, 
especially to the relatives and the medical profession. 
The whole discourse was a just tribute to the deceased, 
and a fitting comment upon the suggestions of the 
occasion. 

Upon its conclusion Dr. Wines offered a prayer, 
after which the hymn beginning " How Sweet the 
Name of Jesus Sounds" Avas sung. This hymn, a 
favorite of the wife of Dr. March, was sung at her 
funeral, and by his own request was sung at his. It 
was by his request, also, that the " Rock of Ages " 
was sung. After the remains had been viewed by 
the large number of citizens in attendance, they 
were conveyed to the Cemetery, accompanied by 
many friends. 



ROCK OF AGES. 



Rock of Ages, cleft for me ! 

Let me hide myself in Thee ; 

Let the water and the blood, 

From thy wounded side that flowed, 

Be of sin the perfect cure ; 

Save me Lord and make me pure. 

Should my tears forever flow, 
Should my zeal no langour know, 
This for sin could not atone, 
Thou must save, and Thou alone ; 
In my hand no price I bring, 
Simply to thy cross I cling. 

While I draw this fleeting breath, 
When my eyelids close in death, 
When I soar to worlds unknown, 
And behold Thee on thy throne, 
Rock of Ages, cleft for me! 
Let me hide myself in Thee. 



APPENDIX 



1XK0 



EXTRACTS 

FROM THE ANNUAL ADDRESS* DELIVERED BEFORE THE ALBANY 
COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY, NOVEMBER 9th, 1889, BY ITS PRESIDENT, 

■JAMES. L. BABCOCK, M. D. 



His Professional Life. 
Dr. March had for many years an extensive prac- 
tice as a physician, in all its departments, but his 
success in surgery compelled him to make surgery 
his specialty. Dr. March was singularly correct in 
diagnosis. In his examination of patients, his eye, 
his touch, his judgment, illustrated his accuracy and 
consummate skill. He was quick to perceive, and to 
meet any emergency or complication. He never 
seemed to be undecided as to what was to be done, or 
how to do it. His inventive genius was ever at his 
command, and with promptness and efficiency he met 
the various exigencies of his many, many cases. In 
controlling his own feelings he commanded others; 
the operation performed, the determined surgeon at 
once became the kind and devoted physician. As an 



* From the Trans, of the N. Y. State Medical Society. 



62 



operator he was quick, dextrous, cautious, bold and 
successful. His professional eminence among his 
brethren, and the public at large, was due to him, and 
was most cheerfully awarded. In his later years, 
none in northern and Avestern New York, as a sur- 
geon, equaled him; none in the southern, or the nation, 
surpassed him. 

We find no record of the surgical operations per- 
formed by Dr. March during ten years of his profes- 
sional life. Yet those of which we have a record 
number seven thousand one hundred and twenty-four 
(7,124). A partial synopsis of his operations is as 
follows : 

He amputated three hundred and thirteen times ; 
of which sixty-five were through the thigh; thirty- 
six through the leg ; seven through the tarsus ; twenty- 
five through the arm ; eighteen through the fore-arm ; 
/and two through the wrist. 

He reduced three hundred and nine dislocations. 
Many of them of an unusual character. Of which 
seven were of the inferior maxillary or lower jaw; 
one hundred and thirty-six of the shoulder; seventy- 
five of the elbow; twenty of the wrist; seventeen of 
the hip-joint; four of the knee; one of the patella; 
ten of the ankle ; and twelve of the astragalus and 
tarsus. 

His cases of fractures number ten hundred and 
fourteen. Many of which were uncommon; indeed, 
to such he was constantly called. Of these, nineteen 
were of the cranium ; six of the scapula ; one hundred 
and eleven of the arm ; eighty-three of the fore-arm, 
both bones; two hundred and nine of the radius; 
twenty-two of the ulna; eleven of the olecranon 



63 



process; nine of the ribs; one of the sternum; one 
hundred and thirty -three of the femur ; sixteen of the 
patella; one hundred and thirty-three, both bones, of 
the leg ; twenty-nine of the tibia ; and nineteen of the 
fibula. 

He operated for non-union of bones twenty-six 
times ; for resection fifteen times ; of which eleven 
were of the lower jaw ; for anchylosis of joints five times. 
He extirpated one thousand six hundred and sixty-two 
tumors, of every diversity of character and situation. 
Of this number, twenty-eight were osseous ; two cartila- 
ginous ; one muscular ; twenty -one bursal ; four hun- 
dred and ninety-one malignant; four hundred and 
ninety-two encysted. He operated, for strangulated 
hernia one hundred and four times. Of which, for 
umbilial five times ; direct and oblique inguinal fifty- 
three times ; femoral forty-six times. He performed the 
operation of lithotomy forty-seven times ; ovariotomy 
seven times ; neurotomy seventeen times ; hydrocele, 
temporary relief, three hundred and forty-seven times ; 
for radical cure, one hundred and eighteen times; 
for paracentesis cranii, three times; thoracis, eleven 
times ; abdominis, seventy-seven times ; hydrops arti- 
culi, twelve times; fistulas, in various situations, one 
hundred and seventy-nine times. Removed polypi, in 
various localities, one hundred and forty-five times. 
He operated for hare-lip one hundred and twenty-five 
times. Of which, about fifty were double, with double 
cleft in jaw ; staphyloraphy, nine times ; talicotian or 
rhinoplastic operation, twelve times; autoplastic, six 
times ; excision of the tonsils and. uvulae, five hundred 
and. forty-nine times ; for goitre, once ; laryngotomy 
and trachetomy, seven times. Removed foreign bodies 



64 



from the air passages, fifty-three times ; extirpation of 
the eye, ten times. Operated for cataract, one hun- 
dred and twenty -nine times ; strabismus, two hundred 
and forty-nine times; pterygium, eighteen times; 
myotomy and tenotomy, two hundred and eighty-eight 
times; ligated arteries, forty-three times; of which 
the profunda, external iliac and common carotid were 
included ; aneurism of the larger arteries, seven times ; 
spina bifida, five times; spina ventosa, three times. 
He performed anomalous operations for the cure of 
deformities fifty times. While a full narration would 
not, at this time, be appropriate, yet it is deemed 
appropriate to speak of the following: 

In 1820, he performed his first operation, which 
was for hare-lip. In a communication on clinical 
surgery, in 1854, he says : "In less than three weeks 
after receiving my diploma I operated on the infant 
of Mr. H., of White Creek, Washington county, N. 
Y., then about three weeks old, for relief of a tole- 
rably fair case of hare-lip. All the surgical instru- 
ments I then possessed was a dissecting case, the 
knives of which were pretty well worn by eight 
months of almost constant dissection, while pursuing 
my professional instruction in Boston. I procured 
some common choppel sharp sewing needles, such as 
I had seen used by my preceptor, a kind brother, and 
who was surgeon's mate in the war of 1812, and with 
the aid of an ordinary pocket knife, which it is the 
custom of ' the Yankee to use on various occasions,' I 
whittled, out of soft pine wood, a thin spatula, which 
was used to support the lip, while the borders of the 
fissure were excised upon it with the scalpel. With 
preparation so simple and imperfect, I resolved to 



65 



make my debut in operative surgery, greatly to the 
fears, and almost under the protest, of my good old 
sainted mother, who lived until 1848, long enough to 
have all her doubts and fears, as to my success in this 
and other important and difficult surgical operations, 
fully settled." He further says, " I need not describe 
the steps of the operation, nor say that the excite- 
ment of the responsibility of what was then regarded 
as a bold operation, caused huge drops of perspiration 
to bedew my flushed face. Suffice it to say, that I 
thought I had ' put it up ' about right. Every thing 
went on pretty well until the third or fourth day, 
about the time for the removal of the needles, when 
the little patient was attacked with the infants' 
apthas, or sore mouth, which resulted in destroying 
the adhesions in less than one week, when the sides of 
the fissure were as far asunder as before the opera- 
tion. I satisfied the parents of the cause of failure, 
and not doubting myself of ultimate success deter- 
mined to try again; and that I might be better 
prepared for a second endeavor, I visited Albany, 
procured a work on surgery, a set of silver hare-lip 
suture pins, and under my directions a common black- 
smith manufactured the forceps. The second opera- 
tion was performed when the child was between two 
and three months old, and was completely success- 
ful." In speaking of the cause of failure in the first 
operation, he says : " Besides the sore mouth, I 
think there must have been another or other reasons 
of failure, such as are apt to prevail with most young 
operators — a fear of cutting away too much of the 
border of the fissure, and the neglect to insert the 
sutures, whether pins or thread, at a proper distance 



66 



from the border of the cut margins, and of failing to 
make them penetrate nearly through the entire thick- 
ness of the lip." 

Mr. A., a farmer, aged about thirty years, had a 
tumor occupying the left side of the neck, as large as 
a pint bowl, egg-shaped, extending superiorly to the 
lobe of the ear, and inferiorly nearly to the clavicle. 
Speaking of this case, he says : " It is conceived 
that a faithful account of the history, operation, and 
result of this case will be rendering a public service, 
although the operation proved unsuccessful, and 
therefore in the minds of the illiberal, might reflect 
on the character of the operators. In my opinion, 
unsuccessful operations are often as highly important 
on the score of experience, not only to the individu- 
als concerned, but to the medical profession at large, 
as are those, that are crowned with the most trium- 
' pliant success. Though unfortunately, for the im- 
provement of surgery, the reports of such cases, are 
too often kept from the public eye; either from 
fear of censure, or loss of professional reputation. 
But in this instance, if we suffer from either source, 
we shall feel ourselves in part compensated, and more 
than acquitted from unjust charges, at least, when we 
shall have faithfully and honestly discharged this 
duty, which the public, and more especially the 
medical profession, seem to claim at our hands." 
After describing the various steps of the operation, 
he says : " While dissecting at the lower part of the 
tumor, the knife came in contact with the external 
jugular vein, very near the point where it unites with 
the internal jugular. The moment this happened, a 
phenomenon followed that seemed to startle all pres- 



67 



ent. It was the noise of a strange rushing of air, as 
though the trachea or cavity of the thorax had been 
cut into, that seemed to foretell the result of the ope- 
ration. The noise that followed the wounding of the 
vein, was compared to that produced by turning 
liquid from a junk bottle. The patient was instantly 
seized with tremors and convulsions ; was pulseless ; 
lips became livid, frothed at the mouth, and the 
pupils of the eyes dilated to the greatest possible 
extent. The moment the source of the difficulty was 
discovered, the finger of an assistant was placed upon 
the mouth of the wounded vein, and there held, while 
the operation was suspended for a few moments, and 
in the mean time the patient was partially aroused 
by the use of diffusible stimuli. The operation was 
resumed, and in the course of ten or twelve minutes 
completed. And within five, or ten minutes, at 
farthest, the patient breathed his last without a 
struggle." He continues : " Soon after the occur- 
rence of this disastrous case, we lost no time in 
searching all the works on surgery, and such periodi- 
cals as came within our reach, to find a parallel case, 
or any circumstances that would lead a surgeon to be 
cautious how he opened veins in the immediate 
vicinity of the heart. And with all diligence we 
discovered but one of a similar nature, and in which 
the operation was followed by a similar result. It 
was a case that occurred, and was reported by M. 
Dupuytren. Had Dupuytren' s case, together with 
some rules to be observed, in order to avoid the 
occurrence of such accidents, in performing opera- 
tions about the neck, been embodied in our standard 
works on surgery, it is very probable we might have 



68 



saved the life of our patient. At all events, I think 
we should have been saved the sore mortification of 
seeing him expire upon the operating table. In order 
to give a satisfactory explanation of the phenomena 
that followed the wounding of the vein, it required 
considerable research in the science of physiology. 
One thing, however, appears certain, that death was 
the result of the introduction of air into the cavity 
of the heart." He says : "I came to this conclu- 
sion not only from the experience I had in the fatal 
case here related, but from an experiment which I 
tried on a cat. The jugular vein of a cat was 
exposed and laid open, a blow pipe introduced, and 
with one puff of the breath, the cat was thrown into 
convulsions, and within three minutes Avas dead. On 
dissection we found the right side of the heart, and 
the large veins, filled with air, which was the cause of 
' death. This report was copied into Cooper's Surgi- 
cal Dictionary of Practical Surgery of 1830, pages 
509 and 510. Under the head of Tumors, the fol- 
lowing is there added : "A highly interesting case 
of tumor in the neck, in which the operation for its 
removal was performed by Professor Alden March, 
of Albany, N. Y. And although this operation was 
unsuccessful, yet the cause of its failure was appa- 
rent, and ought to be known to the profession, that it 
may be avoided in future surgical wounds in which the 
neck is to be involved. This operation was performed 
in August, 1829, and the patient died upon the table 
from the introduction of air into the cavity of the 
heart through the external jugular vein." He says, 
" Dr. March's experiments on this subject may be of 
the highest practical importance, and the explanation 



69 



of the remarkable phenomena, which followed the 
wounding of a vein, in this and other cases, is a 
physiological problem, the solution of which, if 
accomplished, will be of the deepest interest to the 
profession, and to humanity." This report was also 
copied into Gibson's Surgery, vol. 2, pp. 441 and 442, 
in connection with operations on varicose veins, 
which says, " In performing operations upon veins, 
the surgeon should be aware of the danger of air 
entering their cavities. Several interesting cases 
have been reported by Dupuytren, Sir Astley 
Cooper, Roux, Warren, Mott and Stephens, of 
death from this cause, or of the patient being saved 
by pressure on the orifice in the vein, or by the 
timely operation of encircling it with a ligature. 
The most interesting case of all, however, is that 
reported by Professor March, of Albany, the candid 
relation of which does him great credit." I have 
selected his first case of surgery, and successful ope- 
ration, and his first case of unsuccessful, aware that 
these two cases illustrate the man and the surgeon. 
He was ever anxious to present the facts and the 
truth, whether the result was favorable or unfavor- 
able. He seemed to forget himself in his great 
anxiety to advance the cause of science ; and in the 
latter case, in the solemn consciousness that he had 
done his duty, he stated the result of a professional 
effort, relying upon the intelligence of his professional 
brethren, who, with all the facts of the case before 
them, would feel he deserved success, could it have 
been attained. 

In the Transactions of the American Medical Asso- 
ciation of 1853, on pages 505 and 506, we find, in 



70 



connection with his essay on morbus-coxarius, mention 
of an invention designed by him, to fill a very impor- 
tant indication in the treatment of this disease. In 
speaking of this improvement, he remarks: "The 
structure of the splint is designed to obviate all 
pressure on the trochanter-major." " The treatment 
of hip-disease by the use of the long splint, I believe, 
was first suggested and employed by our late distin- 
guished countryman, Dr. Physick, of Philadelphia. 
The only object he had in view, was to secure rest and 
perfect immobility of the joint." 

In the Transactions of the New York State Medi- 
cal Society of 1855, page 126, we find an essay by 
Dr. March, on improved forceps for hare-lip operation. 
He says : " To prevent the notch that is so apt to 
follow the old method, of operating by straight 
incisions, two plans have been adopted, one with a 
semi-circular cut, from top to bottom, and the other 
with straight lines, from the top, to the upper border 
of the red part of the lip, and from thence toward 
the fissure, at an angle of about forty-five degrees." 
The instrument I have caused to be constructed, is 
designed to combine the semi-circular line of the 
Edinburgh surgeon and angular line of Malgaigne. 
It says, " by the aid of this instrument, the lip can 
be securely held, while its shape affords a sure guide 
in making the line of incision in such a way as shall 
secure all the advantages of both, a semi-circular and 
angular border." 

Dr. Bryan, Professor of Surgery in the Philadelphia 
College of Medicine, in speaking of Prof. March's 
essay on improved forceps for hair-lip operation, says : 
" It embodied so much that is valuable, that we think 



71 



this production of one of the most distinguished sur- 
geons of New York, ought to be made to assume a 
permanent form, and be embodied in the standard 
works." 

In 1860, Dr. March also invented instruments 
for the removal of dead bone; and in 1867, employed 
a new method for removing urinary calculi. This is 
not the place to speak of the importance of these 
inventions, or even describe them in detail; it is 
enough for me to bring them to your notice at this 
time, feeling that every distinguished surgeon in 
this audience, as well as elsewhere, is aware of the 
importance of these inventions to the profession. 

As a lecturer, Dr. March was practical, clear and 
forcible ; always commanding the respect and attention 
of his Class ; and from his vast field of experience, he 
was enabled to give such instruction as was well calcu- 
lated to make practical physicians and surgeons. He 
delivered ten courses of lectures on Anatomy and 
Physiology, in the Vermont Academy of Medicine ; 
thirty-six courses of lectures on Surgery, in the Albany 
Medical College, and seventeen private courses of lec- 
tures on Anatomy, Physiology and Operative Surgery, 
in Albany. 



MEMBERSHIP OF MEDICAL SOCIETIES AND SOME OF THE 
OFFICES HELD BY HIM. 

1832 and 1833. President of the Albany County Medical Society. 

1857. President of the New York State Medical Society. 

1864. President of the American Medical Association, and one 
of its founders. 

Honorary Member of the Massachusetts State Medical Society ; 
Pennsylvania State Medical Society ; Connecticut State Medical 
Society; Rhode Island State Medical Society. 



72 



1861. He was Chairman of the commission appointed to examine 
candidates for the Volunteer service of the State of New York. 
There were two hundred and forty-three candidates, a large portion 
being graduates of the Albany Medical College. 

1862 and 1863. Member of the Auxiliary Corps of Volunteer 
Surgeons of this State. 

1841. Corresponding Member of the National Institution for the 
Promotion of Science, at Washington, D. C. 

Member of the Young Men's Association of this city; member 
of the Young Men's Christian Association; President Board of 
Trustees First Presbyterian Church ; President Albany City Tract 
and Missionary Society ; trustee of the Albany Medical College ; 
trustee of the Dudley Observatory ; trustee Albany Rural Cemetery ; 
trustee Albany University. 

The degree of LL. D. was conferred on him by William's College, 
in 1868. 

1869. Hon. Mem. of the "Institut des Archivistes de France." 

In these societies he took deep interest, especially 
those connected with his profession, of which he was 
an active member and labored with earnest devotion 
for the promotion and spread of medical science. 
Their honors were freely awarded him without his 
seeking to acquire distinction. 

We are indebted to him for a series of most valuable 
papers. The following are some of them : 

1821. Essay upon Dissection of the human body. 

1822. Essay upon establishing a Medical College and Hospital in 
this City. 

1823. Essay on the best Method to be pursued in the Study of 
Medical Science. 

1829. Essay on reporting Unsuccessful as well as Successful Cases. 
1829. Report of a Complicated Obstetrical Case. 

1829. Report of an Unsuccessful Operation, and Experiments on 
animals. 

1830. Essay or lecture on the Expediency of Establishing a Medi- 
cal College and Hospital in this City. 

1830. A Plea for Establishing a Medical Journal in this City. 



73 



1831. Essay on the Establishment of an Asylum for the Insane in 
this City. 

1831. Report on some of the Defects in the Hospital Department 
of the Albany County Alms-house. 

1832. Report on the Sanitary Condition of this City in reference 
to the Epidemic Cholera, and suggestions for the establishment of 
Temporary Hospitals. 

1833. Address before the Albany County Medical Society. Sub- 
ject: The Epidemic Cholera. 

1834. His second address before the Albany County Medical 
Society. Subject: Surgical Cases, and reports of some of his more 
important Surgical Operations. 

1847. Essay on Prosecutions for Mal-practice. 

1847. Essay on Frequent Meetings of Medical Societies. 

1849. Report of a Successful Operation for Ovariotomy. 

1849. Description of Malgaigne's instrument for maintaining 
apposition in those oblique fractures of the Tibia, in which the 
superior fragment obstinately tends to overlap the inferior, which 
was published in the Transactions of the A. M. A. 

1852. Reply to Dr. Samuel Jackson, of Northumberland, Penn., 
on the proposed re-organization of the American Medical Association. 

1852. Report of an ojjeration for Lithotomy. 

1852. Paper on Strangulated Hernia and Reducible. Published 
in the Western Lancet. 

1853. An Essay on Morbus Coxarius, or Hip-disease, and report 
of his investigations. Published in Trans. A. M. A. 

1853. Report of a case of Backward Dislocation of the Astragalus. 

1854. Paper on Penetrating Wounds of the Abdomen with 
Punctured Wounds of the Intestines. Penetrating Wounds of the 
Larynx, and their treatment, with cases for illustration, and their 
Medico-legal aspect. 1854. Report of an Operation for Extirpation 
of Tumor from the Neck. 

1854. Essay on Clinical Surgery. 

1855. Essay on Improved Forceps for Hare-lip operation. 

1856. Essay on Four Months in Europe. 

1856. Essay on Encysted Osseous Tumors. 

1857. Semi-centennial address before N. Y. S. Medical Society. 

1858. Essay on an interesting case of Urinary Calculi. 

1858. Essay on Intra Capsular Fracture of the Cervix Femoris, 
with bony union. 
10 



MB 



■I 



1859. Essay on Ectopia A Cordis. 

18S1. Report of a case of Compound Comminuted and Compli- 
cated Fracture of the upper part of Tibia. 
1861. Report on Medical Education. 
1861. Biographical sketch of Prof. Lewis C. Beck, M. I). 

1863. Essay on Prof. Nelaton's Probe for Gunshot Wounds in 
Bones. 

1864. Address before American Medical Association. 

1867. Essay on an unusual place of lodgment and exit of Biliary 
Calculus. 

1867. Essay on the Relations of the Periosteum to Osteogenesis. 

1867. Essay on New Method employed in removing Urinary Cal- 
culi. 

1868. Essay on Scirrhus, or Malignant Disease of the Rectum, 
and report of the successful operation for its removal. 

1869. Report of a Case of Spontaneous Lithotomy. 

Nearly all these essays and reports were read by 
him before the New York State Medical Society, and 
published in the Transactions. Allow me to call 
your attention briefly to two of these essays. First, 
Intra Capsular Fracture of Cervix Femoris with Bony 
Union. After submitting his views and exhibiting 
his Pathological specimens and their history with 
reference to this character of fracture, he says : "I 
shall advocate the doctrine of complete fracture within 
the capsular ligament ', and union by ossific deposit without 
impaction. I wish the profession to examine the 
specimens accurately and minutely in every respect. 
I am content to submit the whole subject to the 
decision of competent judges to decide whether the 
facts are not sufficiently numerous, clear and con- 
vincing to warrant the conclusion at which I have 

In 1841, 1848 and 1856, Dr. March visited Europe, 
not only to perfect himself in his profession, but also 



75 



to investigate, critically, that grave malady, morbus 
coxarius, or hip disease. He says, " for many years 
I have looked upon the writings of Sir Astley 
Cooper as the most reliable of any in the English 
language. He was my oracle. Nevertheless, with 
all this rare combination of a varietv of talents, it is 
possible that even a great and good man may be 
mistaken. The views which I am about to present 
concerning the pathological condition of the hip-joint 
when occupied by the affection commonly called 
' hip disease ' and its treatment, I am fully aware, 
will differ widely from the commonly expressed 
opinion of almost all surgical writers and teachers. 
Nearly every surgical author assumes that spontaneous 
dislocation of the hip is not unfrequently the result of 
absorption, ulceration or destruction of the ligaments 
of the joint and of the acetabulum, and of contrac- 
tion of the muscles surrounding the joint. 

" I shall take the position that spontaneous disloca- 
into of the hip (as purely the result of morbid action, 
unaided by superadded violence) seldom or never 
takes place ; I also propose to point out a mode of 
treatment by which progressive absorption of the aceta- 
bulum and head of the bone may be arrested before 
the life of the patient is endangered by the progress 
of the disease. -If it should be asked upon what 
ground I found the proof and argument to sustain my 
doctrine, and why I dare oppose the weight of the 
highest surgical authority on this subject, I will 
answer that my convictions are based upon actual 
observation and personal examination of about forty 
pathological museums in this country and in Europe, 
and of the examination of the bony specimens of the 



76 



hip-joint of some of those who had evidently died 
while laboring under a severe form of the disease." 
He continues, " I made it my business to examine 
critically every morbid specimen of the hip-joint, and 
with paper and pencil in hand, made a record on the 
spot of the number of the specimens and classified 
them according to the nature of their respective 
organic changes. I have had an opportunity of per- 
sonally examining about two hundred specimens of 
what I took to be hip-disease, and as I learned to be 
such, and arrived at the following conclusion, that 
ulcerative absorption produced the change in the articula- 
tion of the joint which was too often called dislocation. 
If my views are sustained by facts ; if the theory of 
practice upon the plan of permanent extension becomes 
an established principle in the treatment of hip disease 
in an advanced stage, or even before any great 
organic change has taken place in the joint, I shall 
have accomplished my object ; and I trust have con- 
tributed a trifle to the advancement of surgical 
science." In these two essays the views entertained 
by Dr. March, were at variance with the received 
opinions of the profession, not only of this country 
but of Europe. The ideas he advanced produced 
much discussion ; but his clear and logical arguments, 
with the facts presented and the pathological speci- 
mens for his proof, his deductions could not be easily 
overthrown. Some members of our profession for- 
getting how much they are indebted to the experi- 
ence of others, neglect to contribute their discoveries 
in medical science. While not intending to be illibe- 
ral, they fail to perform their duty in this respect. 
Dr. March did not belong to this class. Three ideas 



77 

seem to have always been prominent and inseparable 
in his mind. The welfare of his patients, his own 
scientific growth, and the elevation of his profession. 
As the two former led him to profound thought and 
thorough investigation, the latter induced him to 
communicate to others the results of his experience 
when novel or peculiar. The exhausting labor of an 
extensive practice did not deter him from this duty. 
He accomplished his mission by a systematic arrange- 
ment of his duties, and the punctual performance of 
them. Conspicuous rather as a practical surgeon than 
as a writer, Dr. March did not receive the extensive 
recognition of his eminent ability. Could a sufficient 
portion of his time have been devoted to embodying, 
in a surgical treatise, the ripe knowledge of his 
thorough study and experience, that work would 
have commanded the respect of scientific men even 
beyond the limits of our own country. We can not 
but regret he has not left us such a legacy. 



A PAPER 

BEAD AT A MEETING OF THE ELMIRA ACADEMY OF MEDICINE, ON THE 
EVENING OF AUGUST 3, 1869, 

By WILLIAM C. WEY, M. J)., 



In memory of my revered and honored teacher, 
under whose guidance for more than three years I 
pursued the study of my profession, I propose to 
devote the time allotted me this evening,* in review- 
ing his professional and individual character, which 
for so great a number of years made him a marked 
and conspicuous man in the councils of our art in the 
State and Nation. 

Alden March was born in Sutton, Worcester county, 
Mass., in 1795. His father, an humble farmer, fol- 
lowed his calling under the adverse and necessitous 
circumstances which attend the care of a large family. 
Agriculture, as practiced at that day, in an obscure 
and rough portion of Massachusetts, was simply the 
act of wresting from the soil, by the most vigorous 
manual labor, unaided by the helps of inventive 
genius, the scanty products which were required for 
the immediate and pressing wants of the farmer's 
family. To cultivate a small farm was merely to 
subsist upon " the fruits thereof," and this, too, in the 
primitive and economical manner common among 

* At the previous meeting in July, Dr. Wet was appointed by 
the President of the Academy, to read an essay. 



79 



the New Englauders of the past century. Such had 
been the boyhood of Webster, of Cass, and a host of 
equally distinguished Americans ; and I may add that 
a special charm attaches to a like origin, which is 
subsequently ennobled by a life of exalted position and 
usefulness. 

From his earliest years accustomed to toil and 
labor, Dr. March followed the plough, and performed 
all the drudgery incident to the position in which he 
was born. An early life more uneventful than his can 
scarcely be imagined. The stock to which he belonged, 
however, possessed no fellowship with ignorance, and 
he was allowed the advantages of the school of the 
neighborhood, especially during the winter months, 
when he could be most easily spared from the labors 
of the farm. The amount of knowledge thus acquired 
was doubtless the chief inheritance which the Doctor 
derived from his father, whose slender resources pre- 
vented a more generous bestowal of fortune. The 
result showed that it proved, in the hands of the son, 
a possession of greater significance and worth, than 
estates, honors and titles. Limited as his advantages 
proved, they were doubtless eagerly appreciated and 
zealously prosecuted, and it did not require a long 
period to exhaust them. Education as then prescribed 
in the common country schools, embraced reading, 
writing, arithmetic, geography, and perhaps grammar. 
Beyond this the pupil could not go, for the reason that 
the teacher could not lead, even if the former had 
been disposed to follow. Books were scarce, time was 
limited, the necessities of the country did not demand 
a high order of intellectual progress, and the circum- 
stances of the people did not warrant it. 



80 



An elder brother had many years before become 
a physician, and practiced his profession in his native 
State. 

Thus the early years of the subject of this notice 
were passed, in severe labor, in study and in such 
general reading as chanced to fall in his way. As he 
approached manhood he taught school in many country 
towns. At the same time he began and continued his 
medical studies under the direction of his brother. 
The force and energy of his character proved of early 
development ; and the many hindrances which inter- 
posed to check his progress, only served to renew and 
multiply his vigor and resources, as one after another 
he overcame them all, and strode manfully on towards 
the accomplishment of his earnest hopes and antici- 
pations. He had set out with the determination to 
master a profession, and never, for an instant, did the 
consciousness of his inherent strength and ability to 
succeed, desert him. He attended lectures in Boston, 
and from a remark which fell from his lips in conver- 
sation, during the session of the American Medical 
Association in that city in 1865, he doubtless rendered 
such service to the professor of Anatomy, in procuring 
subjects for dissection, as in part, if not fully, to defray 
the expenses of his lecture course. His success in 
that dangerous field of service, indicated the fearless- 
ness of his character, and the earnestness, amounting 
to enthusiasm, with which he sought to accomplish the 
objects of his ambition. And it must be acknow- 
ledged, in surveying the life of Dr. March, that he was 
guided and governed, from the very beginning of his 
medical pupilage, by an honest and laudable ambi- 
tion. Ambition furnished an incentive to study, to 



81 



investigate, to explore, to originate, to strike out in 
new and untrodden fields, and relying entirely upon 
his conscious strength and knowledge, first as an inno- 
vator, contemptuously considered, next as an instructor, 
with scanty patronage and support, next as a general 
surgeon, incurring the hostility of the profession, and 
finally as a masterly teacher, a brilliant and successful 
operator, a bold, independent and fearless man, he won 
the confidence and patronage, not only of his col- 
leagues, but of an immense representation of people, 
which continued, with increased manifestation, to the 
very day of his death. 

Dr. March's final course of lectures, which resulted 
in the degree of Doctor of Medicine, was attended at 
Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, which 
at this time embraced a Medical Department. 

He commenced practice in Albany, in 1820. Here 
we first notice him as an innovator. He brought the 
zeal and industry of his student life to bear upon his 
first years of practice, and immediately, upon opening 
an office, began the study and teaching of anatomy, 
with dissections and lectures upon the human subject. 
A small number of patrons gave him encouragement, 
composed of students of medicine, and a few bold as 
well as curious men of his acquaintance. The pro- 
fession, regarding him as an adventurer, refused even 
to recognize, much less to encourage him. His utter 
failure and discomfiture was predicted, and his removal 
from the city was anticipated at an early day. So 
fierce became the opposition to Dr. March, and so 
successful, under the bond of combination, that the 
prediction of his opponents seemed about to be realized, 
and because of the threatened failure of his scheme 



11 



82 



to teach practical anatomy, and his equally signal 
failure to secure patronage among the citizens, in a 
moment of chagrin and disappointment, he intimated 
to the gentleman from whom he leased his office, the 
noble-minded Mr. Evarts, a highly successful mer- 
chant of Albany, that it was his purpose to take up 
his residence in the neighboring town of Schenectady. 
With an insight respecting character which long expe- 
rience in business had imparted, Mr. Evarts fully 
appreciated the sterling worth of his tenant, and 
strove to dissuade him from his intention. The Doctor 
was in arrears for rent, and without present or pro- 
spective means to discharge his obligations to his 
landlord. The latter delicately suggested that the 
Doctor should not, in a moment of dejDression, yield 
to the adverse tide against which he was struggling, 
but with renewed strength, contend with and over- 
come the opposition which met him at every turn. If 
Mr. Evarts did not release the Doctor from indebted- 
ness for rent, he made the terms of payment so easy 
that the obligation rested lightly upon the young sur- 
geon, who concluded to abide the course of events in 
giving him patronage, support and position in the su b- 
stantial and conservative city of Albany. 

This event, simple as it appears, was doubtless the 
turning point in the history and career of Dr. March. 
A few words of encouragement, sealed by a noble and 
generous act, on the part of a citizen of character 
and influence, whose sympathies were drawn out 
towards a deserving young man, proved the me ans of 
changing the destiny of his life. He gradually grew 
in favor with the people, overcame the opposition of 
the profession, and at last rose to be regarded as a 



83 



surgeon of skill and character. This position was not 
achieved through favor or compromise. Dr. March 
won his reputation, first at home among his early 
opponents, and afterwards more extensively through 
the State and Nation, simply by his great merit as a 
surgeon. The anatomical foundation upon which he 
built during all his early pupilage and wearisome and 
discouraging waiting in Albany, served as a fitting- 
base to sustain the monument which rose to such 
majestic proportions, as the full measure of his pro- 
fessional fame was achieved. 

At the time Dr. March began to teach anatomy 
in Albany, that city numbered only 15,000 souls. 
Anatomical study, with the human subject in process 
of dissection before the pupil, was not regarded as 
essential by the profession. Such knowledge was 
obtained by means of books, plates, dried preparations 
and didactic teaching. If the profession looked with 
little favor upon practical anatomy, it could not be 
expected that the people would view it with greater 
charity. 

The profession in Albany opposed the schemes and 
plans of Dr. March, both as a teacher and practi- 
tioner, because, in the first place, his manner of teach- 
ing was greatly in advance of the age in which he 
lived, and next, because in the field of surgery, which 
he proceeded to cultivate, they witnessed the breaking 
down of the old and time-honored barriers of con- 
servatism, by which the practice of that branch of our 
art had been surrounded. With disregard of opposi- 
tion based upon such insufficient reasons, he steadily 
pursued his course, conscientiously depending upon 
the integrity of his purpose and the truth and justice 



84 



of his claims of recognition, and confidently looking 
for success. And success came, after a comparatively 
brief period of " looking for the day." In 1825, Dr. 
March was appointed Professor of Anatomy and Phy- 
siology in the Vermont Academy of Medicine, at 
Castleton. This position he held with great reputa- 
tion, for ten years, during which time he maintained 
a private lecture course in Albany, and engaged in 
general practice. 

But the purpose for which he entered the profession, 
and for which he was continually striving, now began 
to be manifested. In 1830, after a residence of ten 
years in Albany, Dr. March delivered a public lecture 
in that city on the " Propriety of Establishing a 
Medical College and Hospital" there. The lecture 
was given to the press, and produced a decided sen- 
sation among all classes of people. This was the 
beginning of an attempt to organize a Medical College 
in Albany. 

A residence of ten years among a people slow, pro- 
verbially slow, to appreciate merit, but generous and 
ready to acknowledge it, when impressed by convic- 
tion, had resulted, as might be expected, in attaching 
to Dr. March a number of earnest and devoted friends, 
who warmly espoused the cause which lay nearest his 
heart, and entered zealously upon the undertaking to 
found a Medical College in that city. The Legisla- 
ture was petitioned for an act of incorporation, but 
fierce opposition sprang up, prompted by the profession 
of the city of Albany, and the combined efforts of 
the medical schools in the State. The Fairfield Medi- 
cal College, then in the full tide of success, with a 
distinguished faculty, entered with great power and 



85 



effect in the contest to prevent the organization of a 
rival school. 

It would be uninteresting to this audience to narrate 
the history of this exciting period of Dr. March's life. 
For eight years he maintained a struggle with all the 
Medical Colleges of the State of New York, which, 
through rich and powerful agencies, sought to thwart 
his plans. Almost single-handed, he fought the old 
and favored corporations of the Medical Department 
of the University of the State of New York, the 
College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Medical Col- 
lege at Fairfield and the Geneva Medical College. 
The same spirit of invincible courage and determina- 
tion which he exhibted in early battling with opposi- 
tion, was shown in this later struggle. But he was no 
longer an unknown man contending with men and 
organizations of weight and influence in community. 

And by reason of indomitable will and perseverance, 
he finally achieved success, and on the 3d of January, 
1839, after perfecting all necessary arrangements, the 
first course of lectures in the Albany Medical College 
was commenced, with a class of fifty-seven students. 
Dr. March filled the chair of Surgery ; Dr. James H. 
Armsby, of Anatomy and Physiology; Amos Dean, 
Esq., of Medical Jurisprudence ; Dr. Ebenezer Emmons, 
of Chemistry and Pharmacy; Dr. Henry Greene, of 
Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children ; Dr. 
David M. McLachlan, of Materia Medica; and Dr. 
David Meredith Reese, of the Theory and Practice 
of Medicine. 

It was only after the first course of lectures com- 
menced, that the charter of the College was procured 
from the Legislature. When the citizens of Albany 



86 



became fully aroused to the desirability and prospective 
advantage of having such an institution in operation 
among them, they applied with such heartiness and 
effect to the Legislature, that the necessary powers 
were quickly conferred, and the Albany Medical Col- 
lege took its place upon a par with the old and favored 
medical schools of the State and country. 

I cannot refrain from speaking in this connection, 
of the signal service rendered the Albany Medical 
College in the Senate of the State, by the representa- 
tive from this district, the Hon. John G. McDowell, 
whose sympathies were all aroused for the intrepid 
and invincible Maech, whose efforts to cope with such 
rival powers as I have mentioned, won the admiration 
of the large-hearted and magnanimous Senator, and 
made Dr. March his friend for life. 

Soon after I located in Elmira, I was presented to 
Judge McDowell, who immediately inquired where I 
had received my medical education. When I replied, 
in the office of Dr. March and at the Albany Medical 
College, the Judge warmly grasped me by the hand, 
and heartily wished me success. An entertaining 
conversation then followed, respecting the exciting 
scenes which were enacted in the Senate Chamber 
during the time when Dr. March was engaged in 
urging upon that body the propriety of adopting the 
measures which he so earnestly and persistently pre- 
sented from session to session. 

With the opening of the Medical College, Dr. March 
inaugurated a novel proceeding in the history of such 
institutions, which soon became popular and was 
adopted very generally in the medical schools of the 
country. It was his custom, every Saturday morning 



87 



throughout the lecture term, to present to the pupils 
in attendance, a large, varied and interesting group 
of cases, chiefly surgical, upon which he would deliver 
short addresses, and perform such operations as might 
be indicated. In this way, in lieu of hospital prac- 
tice, an immense amount of surgery was brought 
before the students, comprising the minor as well as 
the capital and rare and original operations, which 
made his name so familiar in the history of surgery. 
This custom was continued from the first Saturday in 
January, 1839, to the last Saturday during the lecture 
term of the present year. The amount of surgery 
displayed to students by means of this uninterrupted 
exhibition, was immense, numbering many thousands 
of cases. Some of the most daring and successful of 
Dr. March's operations were performed in this man- 
ner. The removal of enormous tumors by tedious 
dissection among congested tissues, requiring the fre- 
quent ligation of vessels, the amputation of limbs, 
lithotomy, staphyloraphy, plastic operations, the most 
delicate ophthalmological manipulations, these were 
among the wonders of his cunning hand, and the 
results of his educated diagnostic experience. 

It should be understood that the surgical service 
performed by Dr. March at the Saturday college 
clinics, by which so many men, women and children 
were relieved of deformities, infirmities and multiform 
varieties of suffering, was entirely gratuitous. The 
summing up of this charitable record would reveal a 
history of good deeds done to the afflicted, which I 
am convinced has no parallel in the surgical history 
of our country. 



88 



The success of the Albany Medical College is well 
known. Its standard of education has always been 
high. The aim of its teachers has not been to mul- 
tiply physicians, but to thoroughly qualify them. 
And as it has never lacked for support and patronage, 
it has been able to maintain a dignified position and 
character among schools of distinguished reputation 
in the country. 

Soon after the alteration and occupation of the 
building known as the Albany Medical College, which 
had been used as a Lancaster school, and when its 
prosperity became an assured success, the Medical 
College at Fairfield was abandoned, and Drs. T. 
Romeyn Beck, Lewis C. Beck and James McNaugh- 
ton, of that institution, accepted chairs in the new 
organization. The brothers Beck died while teaching 
in their respective departments of Materia Medica 
and Chemistry, and Professor James McNaughton, 
the oldest medical teacher in uninterrupted devotion 
to his duties in the United States, extending through 
a period of fifty years, venerable with age and full of 
honor, still lectures on the Theory and Practice of 
Medicine. 

Upon the opening of the Albany Medical College, 
Dr. March had reached his forty-fourth year. He 
was in the very perfection of mental and physical 
vigor. He had long since overcome the opposition 
which assailed him at the outset of his career, and 
enjoyed an extensive and lucrative practice, almost 
exclusively in the field of surgery. His reputation 
had spread over the land, and physicians in every 
portion of it, as well as intelligent laymen, knew him 
by his achievements. His labors were overwhelming, 



89 



and, even from boyhood, he never seemed to think, 
except when reminded by positive sickness, that a 
limit could be placed upon his mental and physical 
application. 

The honor that was conferred upon Dr. March, by 
electing him President of the Medical Society of the 
State of New York, and subsequently of the Ameri- 
can Medical Association, you. all know. Williams 
College honored itself no less than the recipient of its 
degree, by bestowing upon him the title of Doctor of 
Laws. 

The life of Dr. March, from the foundation of the 
Albany Medical College, we are all familiar with. 
He was so intimately identified with the profession, 
that it seems almost impossible to separate him from 
its interests. And yet in private life, when he laid 
aside professional cares and anxieties, and sought to 
restore his over-worked energies in social pleasures, in 
the pursuits of agriculture, or in traveling, he was the 
same animated, intelligent and delightful companion. 
Amid all the absorbing responsibilities of a large 
practice, it was his habit, frequently, to devote an 
afternoon to the labors of his farm, a few miles from 
the city. In this connection the word labor is pro- 
perly applied. During the few hours on these occa- 
sions, which he devoted to what he termed relaxation, 
he accomplished with the pruning knife, the hoe, the 
scythe, and other implements, as much manual labor 
as would have satisfied a laboring man that he was 
doing a full day's work. He would return to his home 
from these frequent "forays," as they might have 
been termed, stained, soiled and wet with perspira- 
tion, and at the same time rested and refreshed. Dr. 

12 



90 



Maech possessed the quality in a remarkable degree, 
of being able, in the work which he had in hand, to 
banish all other considerations from his mind. A 
surgical operation entirely engrossed his mental as 
well as physical being. And all the time spent on 
his farm, by a process of revolution of thought and 
interest, which allowed a period of mental rest, equally 
engrossed his attention. 

But I must hasten on to allude to one of the chief 
points of interest in the life of Dr. March. Aside 
from his wonderful success as an oj3erative surgeon, 
my first allusion will be to the results of his investi- 
gation of hip-disease. From the earliest teaching of 
surgery, down to within a period of twenty -five years, 
authors and lecturers alike, regarded the final stage 
of this affection as the result of dislocation of the 
head of the femur. You will all bring to mind illus- 
trations of this condition, in which marked indications 
of dislocation exist, such as shortening of the leg, 
inversion of the toe, trochanteric prominence, etc. 
Numerous as were the wet and dry specimens of hip- 
disease in the medical museums of the country, and 
much as the subject had been investigated hy sur- 
geons, no fact seemed better established than this, 
that dislocation of the head of the femur Avas the 
natural result of the disorganizing process known as 
hip-disease, after reaching a certain stage. In other 
words, hip-disease, allowed to proceed from one stage to 
another, from inflammation of the articular extremity 
of the head of the femur and socket, to final ulcera- 
tion, always terminated, if recovery took place, in 
luxation of the bone, either partial, on the margin of 
the acetabulum, or complete, on the dorsum of the 



91 



ilium. For years Dr. March believed this doctrine. 
But as familiarity with the disease increased, and as 
morbid specimens multiplied in his possession, and he 
was led to scrutinize them closely, he began to have 
misgivings of the correctness of this principle. His 
attention was more particularly drawn to the subject 
by the interesting nature of the investigation, and the 
limited opportunities which our country afforded for 
studying morbid specimens of hip-disease. He visited 
many collections, public and private, of any conse- 
quence, in the United States, and took copious notes 
of all important features of the aifection, with due 
regard to their classification and arrangement. Not 
satisfied with this survey, he went abroad for the 
second time, if not for the only purpose, at least for 
the chief purpose of studying the disease in the 
museums and cabinets of Great Britain and on the 
continent. Before leaving this country, he had col- 
lected, mostly from dissections, the largest number of 
specimens known to belong to an individual or to an 
institution in the United States. Indeed, he failed to 
find in Europe, in a single collection, as many inter- 
esting cases of the disease as he possessed. And his 
going abroad proved the means of adding several 
specimens to his own collection, which at this time 
was the most complete, doubtless, in the world. 

The result of all this study and investigation estab- 
lished the fact, now universally acknowledged, that 
dislocation of the femur in hip-disease, though pos- 
sible under certain circumstances, is the rarest event 
in the production of morbid changes. 

It was satisfactorily shown that the phenomena of 
the disease ascribed to dislocation, were merely results 



92 



of a process of inflammation, terminating in wasting 
and absorption, which closely resembled that accident. 

This explanation, when once made and demon- 
strated, appears simple enough, and we wonder it was 
not offered a long time ago. The profession accepted 
it cautiously, and after many doubts and misgivings, 
expressed by teachers in the medical schools, by 
authors, by writers in the journals, as well as by 
individual practitioners, Dr. March's conclusions were 
adopted as the true condition of hip-disease, in every 
part of the enlightened world. The connection of 
Dr. March with this subject, if he had achieved no 
other distinction, is enough to stamp him as a bold, 
original and accurate investigator of disease. 

I will briefly allude to a few prominent traits in 
the character of Dr. March, which stood forth in his 
common, e very-day life. 

He always sympathized with and cheerfully aided 
young as well as older physicians, if they deserved 
sympathy and aid. His office was a general gather- 
ing place for physicians, accompanied by patients, 
who desired his opinions and advice. And he always 
gave such cases full and minute investigation. His 
method of examining a case, while it may have 
lacked the system which embraces one region of the 
body after another, in a prescribed order, was neverthe- 
less thorough, and rarely failed to elicit the prominent 
features of the disease or affection under consideration. 
Narrowing down the indications within certain limits, 
by a process of exclusion, he arrived at the truth, and 
seldom erred in surgical diagnosis. He was not infalli- 
ble in judgment, as I might prove by several instances 
of error and faulty opinion. It was marvelous to 



93 



witness the almost intuitive perception of sense, which 
seemed to dwell in the ends of his fingers, when they 
were employed in searching for deep seated matter. 
And he seldom failed to reveal the evidence of pus, 
by a free incision, when he had thus committed him- 
self to an opinion. 

As a lecturer on surgery, Dr. March was eminently 
plain and practical. His course during a lecture term 
was carefully marked out and arranged under heads 
and subjects. The skeleton or frame-work of this 
plan was filled up from day to day by illustrations of 
cases from his immense stores of experience, and by 
morbid specimens from the shelves of the college 
museum, where, during all the busy years of his life, 
they had been rapidly accumulating. This method, 
while it gave to the lectures the interest of extempo- 
raneous delivery, took away from them the dryness 
and wearisomeness of a formal presentation of hack- 
neyed topics. That the Doctor's lectures were never 
tedious, was shown by the large number of students 
and physicians who always attended them. The latter 
class, from a young alumnus of the college to an old 
graduate under Dr. March as teacher of anatomy in 
Vermont, as well as physicians drawn thither by his 
reputation for surgical skill, paid him the most marked 
respect and honor. 

His convictions of surgical truth and practice were 
so strong and abiding, and his desire of impressing 
them upon students so sincere and conscientious, that 
he thus acquired great power over his hearers. He 
never was diverted into fields of speculation or 
specious reasoning. His mind discarded the reasoning 
element, as rigidly interpreted. I doubt if he compre- 



94 



hended the reach and extent of this principle or 
faculty of the mind, at least, he never attempted to 
exercise it. This I do not mention in disparagement 
of the great surgeon ; it never seemed to be a defici- 
ency in his own estimation or in the opinion of his 
friends and admirers. Perhaps his early training, by 
partaking of the practical, in its fullest and plainest 
sense, and proceeding on towards adult life in the 
same toilsome direction, gave him a relish or desire 
for the exhaustive or demonstrative study of anatomy, 
upon which he based the whole field of operative 
surgery. 

This suggestion furnishes the key to Dr. Maech's 
success as an operator, as well as his readiness as 
a lecturer. No matter what portion of the wide 
domain of surgery enlisted his attention, whether the 
consideration of fractures, wounds of arteries, search- 
ing the bladder for a stone, or determining the nature 
of an obscure affection of the ear, the anatomical 
construction and relation of parts seemed as familiar 
in his mind as if he had just given the subject special 
investigation and study. He rarely consulted works 
on anatomy. The whole scheme or plan of the body, 
even to its nicer and more delicate details, was faith- 
fully mirrored in his mind. 

In reciting anatomical peculiarities, his nomencla- 
ture revealed the system of a former period, while at 
the same time it embraced the whole subject. 

It is not difficult to describe Dr. March's surgi- 
cal operations. They were maturely considered, if 
they were at all important, and carefully studied. 
Authors, from the older recognized standards, includ- 
ing the famous John and Sir Charles Bell, down to 



95 



the latest writers of treatises and monograms, were 
consulted. This ground was patiently gone over, 
usually at night, after a clay of labor, and the entire 
subject was elaborated in his mind, and a plan of pro- 
ceeding instituted. This result reached, he lost no 
time in moving on the operation. And here his 
genius was fully shown. Every contingency was 
provided for, every want of the case anticipated. 
Assistants were duly assigned their duty, and the 
work proceeded. A single feeling actuated the sur- 
geon, and that was the completion of the operation in 
as short a time as was compatible with safety. One 
step followed another, the knife at this moment, a 
finger at the next proving the guide, until the tumor 
or diseased limb was removed, the strangulated bowel 
replaced, or a nicely fitting plastic operation con- 
cluded. 

It was a favorite maxim with Dr. March, always 
to use the finger instead of the knife, as long as it 
could be made available to accomplish the purpose in 
view. 

Dr. March ever stood ready to defend the profession 
against the corrupt machinations of unprincipled 
lawyers, who through suits of malpractice, hope and 
expect, while they obtain damages for their clients, 
to abundantly reward themselves. Having passed 
through the ordeal of a malpractice prosecution, which 
resulted in his acquittal, and having on another occa- 
sion successfully vindicated himself in a charge of 
defamation of character, made by a notorious empiric, 
whose paste or plaster the Doctor openly asserted had 
caused the death of a woman to whose breast it had 
been applied, he was warmly alive to the propriety as 



96 



well as necessity of defending his professional brethren, 
when similarly assailed. He was extensively sought 
as a witness by physicians who were compelled to 
answer the hateful charge of malpractice, and I should 
be lacking in gratitude, if I did not revert to the 
signal service which he rendered Dr. Squire, our late 
President, and the writer, in vindication of the mode 
and manner of an operation for extraction of a loose 
cartilage from the knee-joint, which led to a suit for 
damages in 1861. 

Dr. March was a kind and humane man. Aside 
from the river of charity, which regularly, Saturday 
after Saturday, during the lecture term at the Medical 
College, flowed through the operating theatre of that 
institution, he gave, in the every-day discharge of 
professional duties and in liberal gifts of money, to 
the poor and afflicted. As God had prospered him in 
bestowing fame and riches upon him, he regarded 
himself as a steward in His hand, to dispense the 
blessings of his art and science, as well as his wealth, 
to the suffering and needy. 

But the crowning merit of Dr. March's life and 
character consisted in his humble, Christian walk and 
conversation. Many years ago, in the height of pro- 
fessional activity and achievements, under a deep 
sense of conviction, he stepped forth upon the path of 
Christian life, which, during all his subsequent career, 
he trustingly and faithfully followed. 

Thus from the humblest beginning, through poverty, 
adversity, opposition and reproach, we see how con- 
stant was the rise and prosperity of the subject of 
this notice ; how reward came as the sure result of 
incessant application and devotion to the chief purpose 



97 



of life ; how fame, honor and wealth were heaped upon 
him, and how with elevation in the esteem of the 
world, he humbled himself as a Christian, and devoted 
all his powers to the advancement of his profession, 
and the bestowal of priceless gifts of charity to the 
sick and afflicted, through a long and eventful life. 

May his example ever abide with us, and incite us 
to greater efforts for our fellow men. 



EXTRACT 



FROM A LETTER FROM DR. ZINA PITCHER, AN EX-PRESIDENT OF THE 
AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 



" I have myself, in a long professional life, enjoyed 
the friendship of many distinguished medical men, 
but there are none left now, between whom and 
myself, there existed greater congeniality, or closer 
ties of friendship, than between Dr. Makch and 
myself. I loved him for his personal purity ; admired 
him for those graces of character which mark the 
upright and honorable man, and honored him for 
those acquirements, and for the exercise of that skill, 
which distinguished him in his profession. Please, 
even at this late day, to convey to the surviving 
relatives my assurances of sympathy for their bereave- 
ment and of the reverence with which I cherish the 
memory of their departed friend." 



13 



EXTRACTS FROM THE PRESS. 



[From the Western Journal of Medicine, Indianapolis, Ind., July, 1889.] 

Prof. Alden March, of Albany, N. Y., died on the 
17th of last month, in his seventy-fourth year. 

Those of us who met him at New Orleans last May, 
could not anticipate, marking his vigorous step and 
manly form, greeted with his generous smile and the 
hearty grasp of his hand, that in six weeks he would 
breathe his last. 

It is now about ten years since we first had the 
honor of making his acquaintance ; and our first 
interview was in one of those cases in which his 
opinion was worth that of any surgeon in the world, 
viz : of hip-joint disease. 

We feel that his death is to us a personal loss ; but 
this is a minor matter — it is a loss to medicine, to 
the country and to humanity. 

He was indeed a noble man ; the crown of his pro- 
fessi6nal greatness and of his noble manhood being 
the simple faith and life of the Christian. 



[From a Providence. R. I., Journal.'] 

The Late Dr. Alden March. 

Brown University has perhaps been the Alma Mater 
of a greater number of distinguished men than any 
other college in this country. She has sent out into 



99 



the world a little army of lawyers, theologians and 
doctors, as well as poets and artists, whose names are 
as familiar as household words. But among them all, 
none have achieved for themselves a more enviable 
reputation in their respective callings, than the late 
Dr. Alden March, whose death in Albany, at the ripe 
age of seventy-four years, occurred last week. 

Dr. March was born in Sutton, Worcester county, 
Massachusetts. His father was a hard-working farmer, 
and until Alden reached the age of twenty-one, he 
worked upon his father's farm. During this time, the 
young man had enjoyed the usual winter's schooling, 
and had besides this spent one term at an academy. 
This comprised his education. About this time an 
elder brother established himself as a physician, and 
the young man resolved to carve out for himself a name 
in the same profession. Accordingly, he turned his 
back upon the farm and commenced reading medicine 
with his brother, who, in his leisure moments, taught 
him Latin and Greek. 

Professor Ingalls was then lecturing on anatomy and 
surgery, under the patronage of Brown University, 
and by dint of prudence our young student got together 
money enough to enable him to attend the course, 
which he did. At last graduating and receiving a 
diploma from Brown University, with this and a stout 
heart as his capital, he reached Albany, and at the 
age of twenty-five commenced the practice of medicine 
there. A stranger, with rivals who were skillful, and 
at the same time already established, for several years 
the struggle was a hard one ; but steadfast, undaunted, 
an ardent lover of the pursuit he had chosen, he passed 
on, determined to succeed at all hazard. At the end 



100 



of ten years Dr. March had achieved so enviable a 
reputation as a surgeon that students came to him 
from Albany and the adjoining cities, and listened 
with pleasure and profit to the lectures which he gave 
to private classes. 

In 1839, Dr. March, with his brother-in-law, Dr. 
J. H. Armsby of Albany, and others, succeeded in 
establishing the Albany College of Medicine and 
Surgery, which now enjoys a first class reputation. 

There is hardly an operation known to modern 
surgery that Dr. March has not performed. He has 
practiced lithotomy some thirty times upon patients 
from three to seventy years of age, with general 
success, and has probably made more successful 
amputations than any surgeon in his section of the 
country. 

Dr. March, personally, was a man of strikingly 
commanding appearance, full six feet high, and as 
erect as an Indian, apparently not over fifty-five years 
of age ; he bore in his own person a rare example of 
the good effects of a life of temperance and sobriety, 
which the young men of the present day would do 
well to follow. His life was a long and useful one, 
and he has left behind him in the memory of those 
who knew him, a monument more lasting than a 
monument of brass — a record of good deeds, for which 
he is now reaping an eternal reward. L. 



101 



[From an Omaha Journal.] 

Death of Alden March, M. D., of Albany, N. Y. 

On Thursday morning, the 19th inst., at the age of 
73 years, Dr. Alden March, of Albany, passed from 
this earth in the fullness of his professional fame. 
The history of this great and good man is full of the 
deepest interest. It is well calculated to fill the 
young mind with high, noble and pure resolves. 
Indeed his life, his efforts and achievements, his prin- 
ciples and opinions, his glory and virtue, are precious 
to the profession he loved and served so ably and suc- 
cessfully, so indefatigably and unselfishly. 

I may not, in this place, attempt the language of 
eulogy upon the immortal March ; this is being done 
by the master spirits of the profession, men worthy 
of the task, worthy as was Pericles to pronounce the 
honors of the Athenian dead. I crave, however, to 
be permitted to throw a passing flower to his honored 
memory. He was my excellent teacher, my honored 
master, my generous friend. 

I cannot here even pass in rapid review some of 
the most salient points of his eventful life, cannot 
even mention those able and exhaustive medical pro- 
ductions which brought him so prominently and favor- 
ably before the medical profession of his country. 
This will be the sacred and grateful duty of the 
biographer. 

He has gone ; as a human being indeed he is no 
more ; but yet he is not dead. He will live in com- 
ing time, live as one of the greatest surgical lumina- 



102 



ries of the 19th century, and his name will be a 
" moose-track in the vast ocean of history." He 
goes down to the grave ripe in years, but riper in 
wisdom and virtue — a great surgeon, an honored citi- 
zen, an exemplary Christian. The praises of those 
who knew him best, and the benedictions of thous- 
ands, blessed by his kindness and skill, follow him. 

But the crowning glory of his exalted worth is 
that he was loved and honored even more for the 
purity of his private character, his sterling integrity, 
his unsullied honor and his Christian example, than 
for his extraordinary and masterly ability and skill. 

" Ne'er to the chambers where the mighty rest, 
Since their foundation came a nobler guest, 
Nor e'er was to the bowers of bliss conveyed, 
A fairer spirit or more welcome shade." 

One who Knew Him. 



[From the Albany Argus, June 18, 1869.] 

The Death of Dk. Alden March. 



The death of this distinguished surgeon, yesterday 
morning, was heard of by our citizens generally, with 
profound ' regret. To very many of them, to whom, 
for periods extending back to nearly half a century, 
he had been the trusted and beloved physician, it 
was felt to be a personal calamity. 



The feeling of affection 



out of this 



endeared relation extends, however, beyond our own 
city. It will be felt by hundreds throughout the 



103 



State, in every portion of which his fame had 
extended, and his professional services been called 
into requisition. 

His death will be regarded by the medical profes- 
sion, throughout the country, as a loss to the cause of 
medical science. No surgeon in the United States, 
perhaps none in Europe, was held in higher estima- 
tion than Dr. March. Certainly no one in this 
country, in private practice alone, has performed so 
many bold and difficult and delicate surgical opera- 
tions, and with such remarkable success. His reports 
of cases occurring in his practice, though few in com- 
parison with the magnitude of his operations, have 
been received with the highest favor here, and widely 
re-published in the medical magazines of Europe. 

We do not propose to write an obituary of the 
deceased. The record of his professional skill and 
services, and his high personal character, may be 
safely left to the care of his professional brethren of 
Albany. 



[From, the Daily Knickerboclcer, June 18, 1869.] 



The Death of Dr. Alden March. 



The medical profession, of our city, have lost 
another good man. Dr. Alden March died at the 
residence of his son-in-law, David I. Boyd, at an 
early hour yesterday morning. 

The deceased was born in Sutton, Worcester 
County, Mass., 1795, and was therefore in his 74th 
year. He studied medicine with an elder brother, 
who was Surgeon in the United States Army, and 



104 



attended medical lectures in Boston. He graduated 
at the Brown University, Providence, B,. I., which, at 
that time, had a Department of Medicine. Williams 
College conferred the degree of LL. D. on Dr. March, 
and he was an Honorary Member of most of the 
leading societies of this country. He came to Albany 
in 1820, and immediately commenced the practice of 
his profession, which he pursued with untiring devo- 
tion and success until his death. He was looked up 
to as the father of the profession in this city, where 
he has devoted nearly half a century to the practice 
of medicine and surgery. His reputation was world- 
wide, and his death will be deeply mourned, and his 
memory long cherished, by a very extensive circle of 
acquaintances. 



HOME LIFE OF DR. MARCH. 



However much may be said of the public and pro- 
fessional life of Dr. March, his domestic and home 
life was marked with rare consistency and beauty. 

Simple in all his tastes and habits, genial and loving 
in his family, he engaged with especial interest in all 
those little things which form so large a part of the 
happiness of the family circle. 

A rigid system marked all his daily life. Each 
hour of the day had its fixed duties, and nothing 
could deter him from their regular fulfillment. He 
was prompt to the moment, whether it related to the 
simple arrangements of his home, or to some important 
surgical operation or public duty. His custom was to 
rise at or before the hour of six o'clock, summer and 
winter ; the first hour being devoted to reading the 
daily papers ; at seven o'clock the family were gathered 
for morning devotions, a duty never omitted or hurried 
through. The chapter selected from the Bible was 
carefully read, a hymn as carefully read and sung, 
followed by earnest simple prayer. His petitions were 
direct and concise, relating to all the wants and cir- 
cumstances of the family circle, never omitting to ask 
that God would direct him in the means best calculated 
to relieve the sick and suffering who might apply to 
him for relief, feeling deeply conscious that his own 
skill would be wholly unavailing without God's bless- 



14 



106 



ing. While he shrank from publicity in religious 
duties, feeling " unworthy to take a part," as he 
expressed it, in the social prayer meeting — yet the 
interests of his country, the Church of Cheist at 
large, the poor and needy around him, were daily 
fervently commended to God at the family altar. His 
own church and pastor were remembered with an 
eloquence that impressed all who listened. The hours 
of the morning, until dinner, were devoted to his pro- 
fessional labors, after which he allowed himself a short 
season of rest. During the summer and autumn he 
was accustomed daily to visit his farm, a short dis- 
tance from the city, where he worked as earnestly 
and diligently as he had the former part of the day 
in his profession; enjoying with the keenest delight 
the growth of his trees, fruits, vegetables, &c. He 
had almost a passionate love for flowers, cultivating 
and training them in his own garden, always deriving 
great delight in picking the first rose, lily or choice 
flower, and quietly placing it beside the plate of some 
member of the family at the morning meal ; and rarely 
took a drive into the country without stopping to 
gather wild flowers. 

He had also an enthusiastic love for music, especi- 
ally the singing of the family and sanctuary, in which 
he always joined, feeling disappointed if the tunes 
were not familiar. He always began on Saturday 
morning to prepare for the Sabbath, anticipating as 
much as possible all professional calls, closing the 
week with a complete record of all the cases in which 
he had consulted or operated, every business obliga- 
tion canceled, so that nothing would obtrude upon the 
sacredness of the holy day. 



107 



It had been a rule of his life that no letters received 
during the day should remain unanswered before retir- 
ing, consequently with a large correspondence, the mid- 
night hour usually found him writing at his study table. 

He never absented himself from the sanctuary on 
the Sabbath, or from the weekly prayer meeting, 
except in case of severe illness or imperative neces- 
sity, and was equally anxious that his entire family 
should be there. This feeling was strongly exhibited 
in his last illness. The first Sabbath that he was 
confined to the house, he said, as one came in from the 
morning service, " Oh ! come and tell me all about 
the sermon and the music too; did you have good 
singing ?" and then exclaimed, " Oh ! I feel that I 
must go this evening." The second Sabbath of his 
illness, as the bells were ringing for church, when 
dear ones stood at his bed-side, soothing and nursing, 
he said — "Now leave me and get ready for church." 
His daughter replied, " Why, dear father, you would 
not have us leave you while so sick !" he said, " I am 
very comfortable, and I don't wish you to lose so great 
a blessing." 

His generous aid in the building of the church and 
in the support of its ordinances, and his contributions 
to philanthropic and benevolent objects have been 
alluded to elsewhere. But I may and must speak 
of his private charities. Like his prayers they were 
quiet and unobtrusive, often known only to himself 
and the recipient. Many a widow's and orphan's 
heart have been cheered by his timely aid. 

In his family he was preeminently genial, social 
but not loquacious, never talking unless he had some- 
thing to say. 



108 



He scorned all deceit and affectation, and possessed 
that integrity of word and of act that nothing could 
move or weaken. He courted favor of no one, only 
asking to stand on his own merits. His habits of 
order, neatness and system were so remarkable as to 
excite the admiration of observers ; and if his private 
students and domestics sometimes thought him too 
exacting in these particulars, they soon learned to 
regard him with respect and love. 

Said a student in graduating from the Medical Col- 
lege, " I shall ever be grateful that I was permitted, 
not only to listen to the instructions of Dr. March, 
but more than all that I enjoyed such an opportunity 
of daily observing his character and habits, not 
merely as a surgeon but as a man. It is my highest 
ambition to imitate his noble qualities." Many 
young men who have graduated from his office have 
1 asserted that their success in their profession and life 
they owe to Dr. March. 

This and much more might be said of the private 
character of him whose voice is now forever hushed 
in that home made bright by his presence, but now 
so desolate. 

Should the accusation of partiality be brought 
against this sketch, because drawn by a loving hand, 
I will quote a remark of an occasional visitor in the 
family : "It is impossible for you to exaggerate the 
domestic character of Dr. March. His daily life was 
the embodiment of all that was noble, just and true 
in a Christian." 



109 



Last Illness. 

The past winter had been marked with his usual 
devotion to business. In the early spring his 
strength was severely taxed by professional duties 
in the city and out, anticipating a trip to New 
Orleans to attend the annual meeting of the Ameri- 
can Medical Association. He sailed from New York 
for Charleston April 24th, going from thence to New 
Orleans by railroad. The meeting commenced on 
Tuesday the 4th of May, and he participated in all 
its deliberations with interest and zeal, meeting many 
old friends and also making new acquaintances, all of 
whom seemed happy to show him attention and 
regard. In a letter to his family, he says, " I am 
the oldest member of the Convention. There are 
those present who say they attended my first course 
of lectures forty -four years ago, which reminds me 
that I am an old man." He made a rsupid. journey 
homeward, arriving Wednesday, the 12th of May. 
He returned full of health and happiness, with every 
prospect of years of future usefulness and activity. 
But not many days after he began to feel symp- 
toms of approaching illness, and notwithstanding the 
earnest solicitations of family and physicians, con- 
tinued active in his profession until Thursday, May 
27th, when he was persuaded to yield to medical 
treatment. Thursday evening was spent with his 
daughter and family, and feeling quite ill he was 
induced to pass the night with them, expecting to 
return to his own home in the morning. He was too 
ill, however, to do so. Although his disease made 
rapid progress, no alarming symptoms were manifest 



110 



until the following Monday, when, for several hours, 
his life seemed in great danger. Obtaining some 
relief, the next day his physicians gave hope of his 
rallying from this attack, though not of a permanent 
cure. 

After this his mind became so much affected that 
he did not realize his danger until Tuesday of the 
following week, when his mind became perfectly 
clear, and he expressed the conviction that he had 
not long to live. He summoned the family together 
and requested that a clergyman might be sent for, 
that " we might have," as he expressed it, " a little 
prayer meeting." He said " I am not alarmed at 
the prospect of death; I have long ago committed 
my immortal interests to God ; I am perfectly 
resigned to live or to die, and I want you should be." 
With words of affectionate love and counsel he 
addressed each member of the family, and after 
being fervently commended to God in prayer by the 
Rev. Mr. Blayney, he united with those around his 
bed-side in singing, 

" Shall we gather at the river, 
The beautiful river that flows by the throne of God ?" 

It was a season of deep and tender interest never 
to be forgotten. In his own words it was truly " a 
step towards heaven. During the night he rallied, 
and the next day found him very comfortable. On 
Thursday the same symptoms of depression returned, 
and he felt that he was sinking. Again he longed 
for those near and dear him to be summoned, and all 
his children and grand-children, relatives, and even 
servants, received from him an affectionate farewell, 



Ill 



accompanied by words of loving advice. During this 
time he gave renewed expressions of his trust in 
Christ, and his perfect willingness to die, saying, " all 
is peace !" Again a prayer was offered, in which he 
fervently united, and then listened to the sweet songs, 
— " Sweet Land of Rest for Thee I Sigh," " There is 
Rest for the Weary," and " Beautiful River," in which 
he feebly joined. Rallying somewhat, he asked for 
his colleagues and a few intimate friends and students 
who had known and loved him, to each of whom he 
gave a parting word. His strength returned through 
the night, so that he was not only hopeful himself, 
but his physicians spoke strongly of the prospect of 
recovery. Saturday his symptoms were more dis- 
couraging, and continued thus through the day and 
night, until Tuesday, with however a few intervals of 
consciousness. During these lucid moments, he reite- 
rated his hope in Christ, desired to go to his rest, 
joined in his familiar hymns with the family, and 
heartily responded to the many precious texts repeated 
in his ear, and on one occasiou he even commenced 
the hymn " Rock of Ages," and with feeble voice and 
accent accompanied the family through each verse. 
Early on the morning of Tuesday, when his daughter 
went to his bed-side, he asked her to sing "How 
Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds," a favorite hymn, 
and one which he long ago had requested might be 
sung at his funeral, and then with eyes closed, and 
apjDarently unconscious, he uttered this brief prayer : 
" Oh ! Thou who didst take upon Thyself the penalty 
of our transgressions, and bore the curse of the law, 
take us unto Thy arms, and receive us into rest and 
glory." About 5 o'clock Tuesday p. m., it appeared 



112 



that death, was inevitable, and it seemed as if in a 
few hours he would be at rest ; but he lingered on, 
suffering intensely until a few moments past 7 o'clock 
Thursday morning (June 17th), when the spirit took 
its flight. 

Thus ended the painful illness of one whose memory 
is so deeply cherished by his family, and those who 
knew him intimately. 

He died as he had often expressed his wish to die, 
"with the harness on," and we feel assured he has 
gone to his reward. 



■) 1870 



™** f Z.-&&< 



